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WYOMING 

IN PICTURE AND PROSE 



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Issued Ly 

The Department of Immigration 
Cheyenne, \Vyoming 



mi ui BSB9BS 
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WYOMING 

The Undeveloped Empire on tne Continental Divide. 






GEOGRAPHICALLY, Wyoming is classed as one of the States of the 
inter-mountain or arid region, and has as its neighbors the great- 
est mining and agricultural states of the West. It was admitted 
as a State July 10th, 1890, being the forty-fourth State in order of ad- 
mission. Its length from east to west is 355 miles, and width from north 
to south, 276 miles. Its area is 97,890 square miles, or 62,645,120 acres. 

In general appearance the country is mountainous, with valleys, 
rolling plains and plateaus, the latter covered with grasses of great 
nutrition and furnishing admirable pasture for live stock, while the 
mean elevation is 6,000 feet above sea level, with extremes ranging from 
3,000 to 14,000 feet. Probably 10,000,000 acres of the total area of the 
State are timbered. 

Flowing east or west, according as their sources are on the eastern 
or western slope of the main range of the Rocky Mountains, which 
cross the State from north to south, are numerous streams, among the 
number being the North Platte, Snake River, Green River, the Big Horn, 
the Shoshone, the Laramie and the Yellowstone. None of these streams 
are navigable in a commercial sense,, but they furnish water for the irri- 
gation and development of the surrounding country, and are used for 
the transportation of timber. 

The soil is a light, sandy loam; rich and dark in the valleys. When 
it is reclaimed by the application of water, bountiful returns of agricul- 



tural products, with the exception of such as thrive only at low altitudes 
and in warm, damp climates, are secured. It is estimated that 10,000,000 
acres of the area of the State are suitable for agricultural purposes, if 
irrigated. 

There are thirteen counties, four judicial districts, four irrigation di- 
visions and many school districts. The capital is located at Cheyenne, in 
the southeastern corner of the State. 

Wyoming offers today the greatest opportunities for active develop- 
ment of undeveloped natural resources of any of the great Western 
states. Its resources are many and diversified, and no man can say what 
is the future of this empire of possibilities. There are enormous areas 
as yet untouched, and the advent of active settlers is all that is necessary 
to place these dormant resources prominently before the commercial 
world. Railroads are being built to the hitherto inaccessible points of 
the State, others are being projected, and Opportunity stands awaiting 
the right man. We need more capital invested on a business basis and 
more men of brains, push and honest purpose. To such Fortune stands 
upon the Continental Divide, with winning smile and out-stretched arms; 
to such Wyoming extends a hearty greeting and a co-operative hand. 
The door of opportunity is open to young and energetic men. 



COME TO WYOMING. 




Piney Creek, Johnson County, one of the Many Beautiful and Useful Wyoming- Streams. 

[1] 



AGRICULTURE IN WYOMING 



UPOX the agriculture of a region must its continued and permanent 
prosperity depend. Poor indeed is any country which has no 
staple form of agricultural industry, and the more varied are 
its fanning interests, the greater is the independence, the industrial and 
financial success of its people. The conditions in Wyoming are so varied 
that it is difficult to classify them. As a whole the state is located in 
the heart of the mountain and plateau portion of the arid region. The 
average altitude of our agricultural land is about 6,000 feet above the 
sea. "There are extensive and welt watered plateaus between 7,000 and 
8,000 feet which offer especial advantages for the kind of agriculture 
suited to them, and there are probably larger areas of- irrigable land below 
5.000 feet altitude than are found in any other portion of the West. The 
mean annual temperature varies from about 40° F. to 50° F., depending 
on the altitude and the protection of surrounding mountains. The grow- 
ing season, free from frost, ranges from less than eighty days to 
more than 150 days. The annual rainfall may exceed thirty inches in 
the higher mountain ranges, is seventeen inches to twenty-one inches 
in the northeast corner of the state, and perhaps not more than four 
inches on the dryest interior region, known as the Red Desert. The 
average annual precipitation is about twelve inches for the farming sec- 
tions of the state, and its distribution through the year is most favorable 
to the growth of crops, as 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the total falls in 
the spring months, which secures the germination of seeds and supplies 
the early growth of plants before irrigation becomes necessary. 

As a whole the soils of the state are wonderfully fertile, as they 
have not been subject to leaching by heavy rainfall and contain all the 
plant food which was in the original rocks from which they are formed. 
Phenomenal yields are obtained on these virgin soils, and maintaining 
their fertility is simply a question of farm practice and rotation. It 
is neither necessary nor advisable to use expensive commercial fertilizers. 

The health factor in the clim?te cannot be excelled for man, animals 
and plants. The high quality of Wyoming stock and crops has received 
flattering recognition and tribute at every international exposition, and 
at local, state and national fairs. In 1904, at the Louisiana Purchase 
Exposition, Wyoming received more grand prizes and gold medals for 
her agricultural crops for her size in population than any other state, 
and at the 1904 International Stock Show at Chicago, with a single ex- 
ception, Wyoming captured every prize for the northwest district. 

Development — There are few who can appreciate the newness of 
the western agriculture and its bearing on our development. Farm prac- 



[3] 



tices and other human institutions which have been worked out through 
a hundred or a thousand years in the pluvial districts have been brought 
into' arid America and made general use of, regardless of the fact that 
they were not suited to conditions of climate, soil and social relationships 
so absolutely different from those in which they had become established. 
Regardless of this fact, our agriculture has been successful from the 
first, in that it sustains a people of continuing and increasing prosperity. 
Thanks to the favoring factors of rich soils and salubrious climate, 
agriculture has been profitable in spite of lack of information and mis- 
takes in methods, crops and laws. 

Our knowledge of so complex a business as agriculture is, of necessity, 
cumulative, and with the simple and slight beginning already made and 
the resulting success, the immediate future promises vastly more than 
can be stated or realized. 

Our first agriculture was the grazing of stock, and so remunerative 
was the grazing industry that Wyoming became famous for her grass-fed 
cattle, her range horses and her sheep and wool. With the passing of 
the open range and the establishment of ranches where increased amounts 
of hay and forage can be grown, the stock industry is steadily in- 
creasing, and there has been rapid improvement in the class of animaL 
produced. 

But it is in the cultivation of the soil, both for the production of 
supplemental stock food and of salable crops, that our agriculture has 
developed most rapidly within the past ten years. No other industry 
has kept pace with this in growth and no other class of citizens have so 
much to show for their ten years' labor. Ranchmen are prosperous 
and are building homes worthy the name With new insight into our 
farming and the new internal improvements which are now under way in 
the state, the present cheap lands under irrigation must materially ad- 
vance in valuation, and new crops and new markets insure more rapid 
improvement in the future. In the language of the Secretary of Agri- 
culture, there are no bad acres 'in this state. All are useful for some 
purpose, and with good management our irrigated lands can all be made 
to pay 10 per cent or better on a valuation of $100 per acre. The next 
ten years will be marked by unusual activity in reclamation through irri- 
gation, as well as extension of dry farming, which will double and treble 
both our population and our land values. 

Several factors make our farming highly profitable. Some of these 
are, large areas of free public land, good water supply which can be 
cheaply applied to the land, large home market at high prices for home- 



A Typical Wyoming Ranch on a Small Stream. 




View of Irrigated Ranch on Red Canon Creek, near Lander, Fremont County. Altitude. 5,400 Feet. 



This is a fine example of the small ranch which serves as a headquarters and feeding center for a profitable stock enterprise. Hay 
and grain are raised under ditches and the stock ranged on the surrounding hills and mountains. 

[3] 



grown product.-, unexcelled quality of both crops and flesh, which demand 
the best prices wherever they may be marketed, large yields from virgin 
arid soils and quick returns from crops and stock. 

High Altitude Farming — Perhaps no parts of our state are better 
adapted to the production of live stock than our extensive high plateaus. 
The rich native grasses reach perfection of growth on these higher lands 
and are more abundant and varied than on lower areas where the seasons 
are longer. We find our short season hay is unusually rich in the flesh- 
forming element, nitrogen, and with their quick growth, grasses produce 
less woody fibre and are more digestible when fed to live stock than 
are grasses that take a longer time to mature. Because of the short 
seasons and a general lack of understanding about the possibilities of 
perfecting crops under these conditions, the development of general farm- 
ing has been slow, even though at least one of the first large irrigating 
canals to be constructed was the Pioneer Canal, on the Laramie Plains, 
covering- excellent lands a little more than 7.000 feet above sea level. In 
1891 the Agricultural Experiment Station was established at Laramie, 
and the possibility of remunerative cropping has been fully demonstrated. 
Crops suitable to the season produce large yields, and the problems are 
no more difficult to meet than those in any farming district. Alfalfa 
is now a successful staple crop up to 7,500 feet altitude. Early varieties 
of potatoes and other root' crops, oats, barley, rye, wheat, spelts, flax, 
buckwheat, peas and other things are certain crops, and mixed farming- 
is becoming established. There are still many opportunities to obtain 
cheap lands in these regions, which can be made to pay for themselves 
with a single crop. The station records show average yields of wheat, 
including all varities tried, of over twenty-five bushels per acre for a 
period of ten years. Some maximum yields of other crops are, potatoes. 
522 bushels per acre; alfalfa, AV\ tons; onions, 38,920 pounds; spelts. 72 
bushels : barley and oats, more than 80 bushels, and many other things 
have given large maximum yields and good average returns. Three 
years' experiments to determine the cost and profit of growing wheat 
show an average net profit of more than $10 per acre, where done on a 
small scale at comparatively large expense. 

Stock Feeding — Within the past few years there has been a large 
increase in the business of feeding stock at home to prepare them for 
the eastern market. For a number of years Wyoming- hay-fed steers 
have been sold for the block, and in many instances this beef has gone 
to consumers as corn-fed. At the 1904 International Stock Show, in 
Chicago, "Sir. E. J. Bell of Laramie took second prize on a carload of 
grass-fed cattle which were in competition with the best corn-fed beef that 
could be produced in the corn belt of the east. The Experiment Station 
introduced the field pea as food for fattening lambs, and the business 
of fitting lambs for market on peas promises to become one of the most 



[4] 



extensive and best paying stock industries of the state. It has been 
found, also, that combination rations of barley and alfalfa, of flax seed 
and alfalfa, with turnips or other roots, produce cheaper grains than corn. 
Stock feeding will be one of the most remunerative and staple occupa- 
tions of our farmers. 

Low Altitude Farming — Little may be said about the possibilities 
of farming under irrigation where the altitude is less than 6,000 feet. Some 
world-renowned crops have been authenticated, .such as the prize yield 
of potatoes of 974 bushels and 48 pounds per acre, produced by Mr. 
Sturgis in Johnson County; a yield of 132 bushels of oats produced in 
Sheridan County; an average of 8 T A tons of alfalfa hay per acre for 
three years produced on the Wheatland Experiment Farm. 

Large areas are being reclaimed in Eastern Wyoming and in the 
western and northern portions of the state, where the lands lie from 
3,500 to 5,000 feet above the sea. Many of these lands are so well pro- 
tected by surrounding ranges of mountains that crops can be grown 
which would be too tender for other places of like latitude. These lands 
and water rights under the new reclamation projects are cheap and 
cannot fail to greatly increase in value within a short time. 

Horticulture — The gardens of the state are beginning to furnish 
fresh vegetables for home use. As a general indication of what may 
be done, we need only cite the fact that at altitudes of 5,000 feet or less, 
peanuts, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and tobacco are successfully produced. 
Melons, pumpkins, squashes and other equally tender things grow to 
perfection at all save the high altitudes, and gardens up to 8,000 feet produce 
a good variety of vegetables of the best quality. 

Among fruits, the hardier kinds are being grown in all parts of the 
state. On the Laramie Plains Jacob Lund has an orchard at an alti- 
tude of 7,400 feet which matures Wealth}' apples each- year. Currants, 
gooseberries, dewberries and strawberries can be grown anywhere that 
there are agricultural lands. 

The horticultural sections of the state are the low altitude lands 
and the protected valleys of Laramie. Johnson. Sheridan, Fremont and 
Big Horn Counties. In Fremont and Big Horn Counties two different 
ranchmen have ripened peaches without other protection than that af- 
forded by hills and tree Avindbreaks. Tn these counties a large variety 
of apples are bearing crops of first quality fruit. Among these varieties 
may be mentioned the Northwest Greening. Gano, Ben Davis, Walbridge. 
Wolf River, Ganitan. Yellow Transparent. McMahon. Wealthy. Duchess. 
Pewaukee, White Winter Pearmain. Gideon and others, as well as a 
large variety of crabs. Several varieties of pears, cherries and plums 
are yielding good crops. The possibilities of homemaking where such 
fruits and the more useful shade trees succeed will appeal to many. 



One of the Great Northern Wyoming V alleys, the Grey Bull River. 



... ': ": ■ 




Here is shown the whole process of the smaller irrigation methods. Note the ditch in foreground, diversion box at right, distribut- 
ing ditch and irrigated field, with unbroken, raw land beside it. Note the seepage line, etc. 

Ranches and coal-bearing hills in the distance. 

[5] 



Dry Farming. 



IN the arid West where it has been considered that crops could only 
be raised by means of irrigation, we now find it possible to raise profit- 
able crops where the rainfall is less than fifteen inches per annum, not 
under new methods, but by the oldest kind of farming, practiced since 
agriculture began, where but a scanty amount of moisture was furnished 
by the natural rainfall. For over forty years this kind of farming has 
been practiced in California, and for over twenty-five years in eastern 
Oregon and eastern Washington. In these states it has been demonstrated 
that by deep plowing and a proper system of cultivation, by summer fallow- 
ing and tilling one-half of the farm area without a crop each year, two 
years' moisture may be conserved for the biennial crop. In the early 
'80s, settlers in western Kansas and Nebraska attempted to farm under 
the usual methods and failed, on account of the lack of sufficient rain- 
fall at the proper time. 

There are many places in Wyoming along the eastern border and 
in the northeastern corner where farmers have been successfully farming 
under ordinary methods for nearly twenty years. While many of them 
have not failed to raise a profitable crop, yet this method of farming 
cannot be recommended ; but the system which is hereafter outlined, if 
carefully followed, will assure a profit to the land owner. 

Three years ago, a committee of citizens of Cheyenne raised funds 
for the purpose of conducting experiments and secured the co-operation 
of the United States Department of Agriculture and the establishment 
of an experiment farm near Cheyenne. The services of an experi- 
enced man were secured for the purpose of instructing farmers in this 
method of agriculture. Two seasons' work were carried out almost within 
the city limits, and in 1907 a yield of fifty-six bushels of beardless barley 
and thirty-eight and two-thirds bushels of Macaroni wheat were se- 
cured to the acre. Two tracts of alfalfa were started, and, at the present 
time, give promise of being a perfect success. 

There are many fields in Wyoming in which alfalfa is being raised 
entirely without irrigation, and it is believed that one large crop can 
be secured, and, in case of a rain at the proper time, a second crop is 
possible. 

Nearly one-half of the area of Wyoming is still open to settlement, 
and it is estimated that nearly twenty million acres could be brought 
under cultivation and made to produce profitable crops without arti- 
ficial irrigation. 

The record of precipitation, which has been kept for Laramie County 
since 1871, a period of thirty-six years, shows that the average rainfall 
is 13.58 inches, and the average for the past 16 years has been 15.66 
inches, showing a considerable increase over the first twenty years for 



[6] 



which records were kept, and, what is more important, it is shown that 
three-fourths of this precipitation comes during the growing months, 
while in the far western states, where successful dry farming is an 
established fact, the precipitation comes in the winter and not when 
the growing crops need it most. 

In Wyoming we are free from those scorching hot winds which 
prevail during the summer months over large parts of the states farther 
West, thus reducing the evaporation at a time when the moisture is 
most needed. This immense advantage in the distribution of our rain- 
fall would indicate that we can be more successful than the dry farmers 
in California, Oregon, Idaho and Washington. 

By discing the stubble ground after our crops are taken off we con- 
serve and hold what moisture there is in the soil and prepare it to 
readily absorb the moisture that may fall later, and this enables us to 
plow our ground in the fall, which cannot be done where the dry season 
comes in the summer. It has been demonstrated at Cheyenne that proper 
cultivation does conserve the moisture and keeps the ground in condi- 
tion to be worked. 

The immense areas of the virgin soils of Wyoming have never been 
wet to a depth of two feet, on account of the packing of the surface 
by buffalo and live stock, but, after breaking up the ground the moisture 
goes into the sub-soil and is saved and accumulated. These arid soils are 
very rich in mineral plant foods, and have enough humus and nitrogen, 
when new, to supply large crops ; the occasional growth of legumes, 
which gather nitrogen from the air, is all that is necessary to keep them 
perpetually fertile. 

Prospective dry farmers should bear in mind that better results 
will be obtained if seeds suitable to the different altitudes are secured. 
At the higher altitudes short season crops can be made to mature with 
less moisture than they can where the season is longer and comparativelv 
hot. 

THE SYSTEM RECOMMENDED. 

The system recommended in Wyoming consists in holding two years' 
moisture for one big crop. The farmer should divide his land into 
two portions, one-half to be put in a crop each year, while the other is 
being summer fallowed. By this method, a good crop on one-half of 
the total amount of land is secured when the seasons are dry. 

PLOWING MUST BE DEEF. 

In breaking the ground it should be done in the fall, if possible, 
in order that the winter's moisture may be conserved, the sod becoming de- 
composed and the soil compacted so that a good seed bed can be formed 
for spring planting. The old ground should be plowed eight to nine 
inches deep, and if not plowed in the fall, should be plowed as early 
in the spring as conditions permit. 




Beardless Barley on Model Dry Farm, 1V> Miles East of Cheyenne. Altitude, 6,000 Feet. 

The services of the State Dry Farmer are at the disposal of any settler who will write for his advice, and bulletins may be had 

for the asking. Results are sure and certain under this system to the man who will work and give his crops 

due attention. Think about it and write to Dr. V. T. Cooke, Cheyenne, Wyo., for more information, 

[7] 



The Model Dry Farm at Cheyenne is "Showing the Skeptics. 




View of Model Dry Farm at Cheyenne, Laramie County Showing' Unbroken Prairie and Crons of Barley and Sugar Beets. 

The State of Wyoming is deeply and actively interested in the success of dry farming methods, and the view here shown is on the 
State Farm, at an altitude of 6,000 feet. These experiments are highly successful and there is every indi- 
cation that this method of farming will become one of the great assets of the State. 

[8] 



±he Dry Farm is a Fact and Not Merely a Theory. 




Land Commissioner Fuller, Governor Brooks, Attorney General Mullen, State Geologist Beeler, and State Engineer 

-Tohnston, inspecting dry farm wheat near Cheyenne. 



Three years ago in the Rocky Mountain West dry farming was a joke and a by-word. Today hundreds of thousands of acres 
are, or soon will be, under cultivation by this method; thousands of sturdy men are its devotees. 

[»] 



GROUND SHOULD BE HARROWED THE DAY IT IS PLOWED. 

By harrowing the ground the same day the evaporation of a con- 
siderable amount of moisture is prevented. Harrowing and drilling 
should be diagonally or at right angles to the way in which the prevailing 
winds blow in order to prevent the soil from drifting, to hold the snow 
and to prevent the particles of soil or snow from injuring the young 
grain in the drill furrows by being carried alonp' in the furrows by the 
wind. The ground being summer fallowed should be harrowed as soon 
as it is dry enough after every heavy rain or big snow. If harrow- 
ing is deferred too long, the surface of the soil becomes . dry and is 
more liable to drift when cultivated. Some farmers recommend summer 
fallowing immediately after any rain or snow. The farmer must use his 
judgment and get on the ground as soon as conditions are favorable for 
doing good work. 

SOIL MULCH CONSERVES MOISTURE. 

It is by the soil mulch that moisture is conserved, evaporation pre- 
vented, and dew or other moisture in the air, or precipitation, is absorbed. 

The summer fallowed ground should be in a granular form of small 
lumps, but care should be taken not to get it too fine. The object of 
cultivating is to prevent the formation of a crust, allow the proper action 
of the sun and air, and prevent the growth of weeds. The moisture 
of the soil rises to the surface and evaporates by capillary attraction, 
and by breaking the upper surface this loss of moisture is prevented. 

SOWING THE CROP. 

By sowing winter grain early, not later than the end of August, it 
will attain a good growth and be in better condition to resist the winter. 
Spring grain should be sown as soon as the ground can be put in good 
condition and the danger of hard freezing of the soil is passed. In dry 
farming better results are obtained by sowing not more than thirty to 
forty" pounds of wheat per acre in the early fall. Other things being- 
equal, the earlier the grain is sown the greater is its chance of stooling. If 
sown late in the spring a larger proportion of seed can be sown, as if the 
ground is moist and warm the grain starts and grows so rapidly that it 
does not take time to stool. 

The Press Drill is essential for the dry farmer. Broadcasting by 
hand or machine causes many failures, as some of the grain is harrowed 
too deeply and some not deep enough. The press drill puts in the grain 
to the proper depth, pressing the soil around the seed, insuring moisture 
to cause it to germinate, and gains the farmer a week or ten days by 
putting the grain into moist ground at a uniform depth, besides the 
large saving of seed. With a press drill ten to twelve pounds of alfalfa 
seed per acre is sufficient. 



[10] 



PROPER SEEDS BRING REST RESULTS. 

You cannot, afford to use any but the best seed obtainable. Seeds 
should be those raised without irrigation, if possible to obtain them, 
and should be thoroughly clean and free from weed seeds. The cost of 
such seeds is of little importance compared with the results. 

CULTIVATION. 

A soil mulch must be maintained, not only on the fallowed ground, 
where frequent harrowings will be all that is necessary, but also on the 
land which is raising the crop. In the spring use a weeder, or thoroughly 
harrow your winter grain. The harrow teeth must be sharp. Do not 
be afraid to harrow for fear of tearing out too much grain. It is very 
important that growing cereals should be cultivated with a harrow. Alfalfa 
and grass meadows should be thoroughly disced. After the second year 
there is little danger of injuring alfalfa with the disc, even though the 
surface soil is pulverized. Alfalfa permanently occupies the land, and 
discing and harrowing is the proper method of preserving the soil and 
moisture. 

Potatoes, corn and other crops in rows should be harrowed until 
they get too large, and after that shallow level culture should be followed 
until the crop is harvested. 

HARVESTING. 

The soil should not be neglected ; discing the stubble after harvesting 
the grain is important. The drag harrow should be used to break up 
the lumps and re-establish the soil mulch after harvesting potatoes 
or sugar beets. 

Barley or other grains, cut for grain hay, without threshing, should be 
harvested when in the stiff dough. This prevents the reseeding of the 
ground through the dropping of the ripe grain, which would come up 
the next year as a voluntary crop. 

PROPER CROPS TO RAISE. 

'Crops which are grown in rows, like potatoes and corn, will mature 
with the least of moisture. Corn cannot be raised in all sections of 
Wyoming, as the nights are too cool and the seasons too short, but 
profitable crops can be raised in many places, and only an experiment will 
decide. 

Among the small grains, drouth resisting varieties should be planted. 
Macaroni or Durum wheat is the best. Polish wheat is good where it is 
to be used for stock feed. 

Spelts or emmer is a most excellent stock feed. 

The bald or hulless barley or the beardless brewing barley are short 
season crops, which will mature with a minimum amount of moisture 
and furnish excellent feed. 



Sagebrush to Oats — April to August. 




It is an axiom that sagebrush land is good farm land, and the above crop proves it. The land here was broken in April, worked in 
the usual way, irrigated, and the result is told to any farmer by the stubble in the foreground and sheaves in the 
center. 80 bushels per acre and 44 pounds to the bushel is the usual crop. This showing 
comes from near Douglas, in the North Platte Valley, in Converse County. 



Oats do well in all parts of Wyoming, the earlier varieties being best 
where moisture is scarce. 

If it is desired to raise alfalfa, care should be taken to secure seed 
raised in the arid North, without irrigation, where the seasons are 
short. 

The Sorghums make good crops where the season is sufficiently long 
and warm. 

Brome grass is one of the best drouth resistant sorts for pasturage 
purposes, but it must be harrowed ..or disced to prevent its becoming sod- 
bound and to keep it producing. 

An attempt is being made to develop white sweet clover and to so 
improve it that it will become valuable for dry farming and an important 
feed to be used with grain in fattening lambs and other stock. 

French clover or Sainfoin is a hardy, drouth resistant clover at high 
altitudes. 

The winter grains are especially, favorable for dry farming, because 
the summer fallow method properly prepares the ground, and the spring 
rains are sufficient to mature the crop. 

Winter rye is not appreciated as it should be, for it is one of the 
best feeds for hogs which can be produced. 

Dr. V. T. Cooke, the expert dry farmer, says it has been estimated 
that the value of the stubble of an alfalfa crop and the roots contained 
in the upper 6 l / 2 inches of the soil is $20 per acre from the fertility 
standpoint, while in addition to the stubb!e the whole root system contains as 
much fertility as could be added to the soil by an expenditure of $35 
for commercial fertilizers. At the Wyoming Experiment Station wheat 
following alfalfa yielded 30 bushels per acre, and when sown after 
other crops an average of 18 bushels per acre. Oats after alfalfa yielded 
78 bushels per acre, and after other crops 37 bushels per acre. 

MIXED FARMING. 

Unless the dry farmer can make more than a living he will not be 
satisfied. Therefore, in order to receive the full result of his labor 
the farmer should have sufficient stock to consume all the forage raised 
upon his farm. The manure is an important item to be added to arid 
soils, as it increases their humus, making them more retentive of moisture 
and plant food. Where crops are fed to stock on the farm there is 
practically no loss to fertility. 

Where grains are raised for stock feed, they should be cut early 
and fed in a bundle, which avoids the extra work and expense of thresh- 
ing and hauling to market. 

The feeding of lambs or mutton, cattle and hogs of the bacon type, 
will insure a profit. Hog cholera is unknown, and there is a ready 
sale in Wyoming for all the hogs raised. 



SIZE OF FARM. 

One man should be able to farm at least 160 acres if provided with 
proper equipment, by taking advantage of conditions as they arise. Four- 
horse implements enable one man to do double work. A man or boy 
with four horses and a three-section harrow can harrow thirty to thirty- 
five acres per day. It is possible that a small amount of extra help will 
be necessary at certain times. 

EQUIPMENT. 

Dry farming does not require any special or new equipment. The 
dry farmer should have four or six horses, a three-section drag harrow, 
two 12 or 14-inch gang plows and a disc harrow. Most of them are now 
being made with discs sixteen inches in diameter. It is recommended 
that the discs should not be larger than fourteen inches, as the small 
discs seem to do the best work ; and an Acme harrow is valuable for 
maintaining soil mulch. One or more good cultivators are needed. 

Several farmers could club together and buy a harvesting machine, 
as unless the farmer has a large farm he would not need its exclusive 
use. 

The press drill is one of the essentials and may be either of the 
shoe or disc types. The disc drill has some advantages where there is 
much stubble or coarse manure on the ground, but on well prepared 
summer fallow ground, the shoe drill with press wheels following to 
firmly pack the soil around the seed does the best work. Where there 
are heavy clay soils, a double press wheel should be used. 

If the soil bakes, the double press wheels will leave a crack in the 
center, directly over the seed, through which the germinating plantlets 
can push their way out of the ground. 

Prospective immigrants may find it to their advantage to purchase 
implements in common and work together in starting their farms. 

IMPORTANT. 

The State of Wyoming has secured the services of Dr. V. T. Cooke, 
for the purpose of supervising the demonstration of the possibilities of 
dry farming in Wyoming. Dr. Cooke is expected to assist any one in 
the state who is interested in this work by furnishing him with infor- 
mation and advice. By writing to him at Cheyenne, the prospective 
dry farmer can secure information based on many years of actual experi- 
ence in directing dry farming operations. His advice as to the proper 
seeds to be used in the different localities will be found very valuable. 

A visit to the experiment farms near Cheyenne and elsewhere in the 
state, as most convenient, will do more to convince an interested party 
of the possibilities of this method of farming than all the literature which 
can be furnished. 



[12] 



Nurseries Have Been Established m Several Parts of the State. 




The nursery of the Wyoming Plant and Seed Breeding Company, the second year from the sagebrush, Worland, 1908. 

[13] 



AN - IRRIGATED GARDEN IN CONNECTION WITH DRY FARMING. 

Tests made by the United States Government Experiment Stations 
at Cheyenne and Newcastle have shown that a limited amount of ground 
can be profitably irrigated by means of windmills and reservoirs, or by 
pumps worked by gasoline or other engines. As the dry farmer is, as a 
rule, dependent upon wells for his water supply, he should, by all means, 
supplement his farming with a garden of from one to five acres, for 
which a pumping" plant of sufficient reservoir capacity can be put in place 
for a moderate sum. The government experiments have shown that 
there is a good profit in gardening under these conditions, and by appli- 
cation to the United States Irrigation Investigations Department, Cheyenne, 
those interested can secure pamphlets giving the results of experiments 
and comparative statements as to cost and efficiency of the different 
makes of windmills and gasoline engines used in demonstrations. 

The State Dry Farmer, Dr. V. T. Cooke, has prepared the following- 
Do's and Don't's for the Dry Farmer, and will be valuable reading : 



DO 

Plow deep, at least 8 to 9 inches, 
more if possible. 

Your plowing at the right time. 

Your harrowing and cultivation 
as soon as the ground is dry 
enough. 

Learn to take advantage of soil 
conditions. 

Study the capability of your soil. 

Sow a small amount of the best 
seed obtainable per acre. 

Fan all seeds and use only the 
plumpest and cleanest seed possible. 

Sow all seed with a drill. 

Harrow or use a weeder on all 
your growing grain in the spring. 

Cultivate your alfalfa or meadows 
by using a disc or alfalfa harrow. 

Harrow your plowed ground as 
soon as plowed in the spring and 
summer. 

Learn that cultivation conserves 
moisture. 

Good and thorough work ; it will 
pay. 

Learn to rotate your crops and 
keep everlastingly at it and suc- 
cess is assured. 



DON'T . 

Plow when your soil is wet. 

Harrow or cutivate your land 
when it is wet. 

Plow your ground in the fall and 
harrow it fine ; it is liable to blow 
away or drift; leave it rough. 

Use poor seed and expect good 
results. 

Sow your grain mixed with per- 
nicious weed seed. 

Over seed. 

Sow broadcast. 

Sow grain by hand and then run 
a disc over the land, and expect a 
good crop. 

Sow alfalfa seed on sod ground. 

Sow a nurse crop with alfalfa 
seed. 

Forget to harrow the weeds as 
soon as they appear. 

Let the manure go to waste. 

Let weeds grow, they are hard 
to get rid of when large, besides 
using up the moisture and fertility 
that crops need. 

Forget that all soils are not alike 
and therefore cannot be treated the 
same. 



DO 

Realize there is always a ready 
market for first-class .stock and that 
scrubs don't pay. 

Make up your mind what you 
intend to do, make your plans ac- 
cordingly and carry out your ideas. 

Have an alfalfa or rye lot, or 
rather lots, for your hogs and grow- 
ing pigs, and learn that to get re-" 
suits from these pastures it pays 
to feed some grain if only a little 
every day. 

Get your alfalfa seed bed in the 
best possible state of tilth ; learn 
that alfalfa fields will last in- 
definitely, provided you get a good 
stand, will cultivate them with a 
disc or alfalfa harrow thoroughly, 
after each cutting and will manure 
them. 

Not forget that taking your crop 
off on four legs is one of the best 
ways to make clear money off of 
your farm, besides improving its 
fertility by keeping all manure on 
your land. This method of farm- 
ing, if carried out properly, makes 
your land of greater value year 
by year, and you will have larger 
returns from your work. In other 
words, feed your crops to those 
animals which you like best, be they 
cattle, sheep or bogs. 

Not forget that to raise crops 
and feed them successfully, requires 
brains as well as muscle. 

Keep in touch with your agri- 
cultural college, get your name 
down for their bulletins and recol- 
lect that the professors are experts 
in their different lines, and that 
they will always be glad to assist 
and advise if you will only show 
your interest in their work by ask- 
ing for information. 



DON'T 

Scratch your ground and call it 
plowing and expect good results. 

Be discouraged if your crops do 
not meet with your expectations ; It 
takes time to learn how to do things 
properly, besides the season may 
not be favorable. 

Forget that it is just as easy 
to get big crops as small ones, bet- 
ter seeds "and better culture will in- 
crease yields. 

Feed your horses oats in which 
there are more or less wild oats, 
horses with poor teeth cannot mas- 
ticate or grind their food properly 
— result, wild oats are passed on to 
the ground where working. 

Forget that scientific or expert 
farmers can not make hard and fast 
rules for every farmer. Farmers 
must study and work out their dif- 
ferent conditions more or less for 
themselves. 

Forget the federal government at 
Washington, D. C, issues bulletins 
on most, if not all, farm topics. 
These can be had for the asking, 
are written by men who make a 
special life study of their different 
departments. One very great objec- 
tion is, they are too cheap ; ask 
and you will receive. 



[14] 



A scene on New Fork Lake, in the Wind River Range, one of the series of most wonderful views to be found in the world today. 

[15] 



There are exceptions to all rules. The above may not apply every- 
where or to all conditions, but is worth the careful consideration of the 
man who is dry farming anywhere. 

PLOWING. 

Professor B. C. Buffum of Worland, Wyoming, has prepared a valu- 
able book entitled "Arid Agriculture." By special permission, we reproduce 
here extracts from Chapter 3, which give valuable information in regard 
to plowing western soils. 

Plowing. — "Stirring and mixing the soil is the fundamental labor 
of agriculture." — {Roberts.) Plowing is the foundation upon which the 
superstructure of farming is built. It is the matter of first concern 
to the farmer. Plowing seems to be a simple and easy process, but 
both the science of the why and the art of the how, are deep subjects. 
The character of his plowing displays the knowledge of the dry farmer 
and underlies his success. 

Depth of Plowing. — With hardly an exception the recommendation 
to the dry farmer is to plow deep. Ordinarily this means to plow as 
deep as possible, which will generally be from seven to ten inches. This 
first commandment for dry farming is probably the one most often broken. 
It is not always possible to plow deep. The soil may be hard. The 
farmer more often does not have sufficient power to pull his plow. A 
common condition on western farms is small horses, few of them, and 
lack of that care which gets the most out of a horse. Sometimes the right 
kind of plows are not at hand or are not kept in best condition. 

Why Plow Deep? — The first reason we plow deep is to make a 
large reservoir to absorb and hold the moisture. Our soils have been 
pounded down for centuries by the patter of rains and the feet of ani- 
mals. They are too compact and have perhaps never been wet to a depth 
of more than a few inches. When in tilth some of these soils will 
absorb over 40% of their weight of water. If they contain from 8% 
to 20% of moisture they are in condition to support growing crops. A 
crop of oats at Laramie did not wilt for some days when the soil con- 
tained as little as 3% of moisture. 

Increases Storage Capacity. — How the storage capacity of a soil may 
be increased by deep plowing may be illustrated by a few figures. A 
soil weighing one ton per cubic yard, weighs approximately 1,613 tons per 
acre taken one foot deep. If such a soil will absorb and hold 20% 
moisture and is plowed six inches deep, it will take up 161.3 tons of 
moisture per acre. A rainfall of 1.4 inches will supply this amount of 
moisture and fill up our six-inch reservoir. If the ground is plowed 
only three inches deep, and the sub-soil is hard, it would not be able 



[16] 



to store a rainfall of more than seven-tenths of an inch and should 
more water fall at one time it will be lost and may wash the soil away 
with it. If plowed nine inches deep and put in good condition, such a 
soil reservoir would absorb and hold over two inches of rainfall at one 
time. A soil already containing a considerable water would be filled up 
with less rain, and deep plowing would be still more important. 

Pulverizes and Fines the 5'oil. — Deep plowing is usually good 
plowing in that it grinds up and pulverizes the soil. Soils that are 
plowed deep come more rapidly into good tilth. Fining the soil particles 
releases and makes available plant food. It lets in warmth and air and 
gives better chance for the activity of chemical agents and bacteria. 

Deep Plowing Gives Root Pasture. — The larger part of soluble 
plant food becomes available in the surface soil. Plant roots pass through 
it easily and here they send out their feeders to make use of the foods 
ready for them. If four inches of the surface soil is kept stirred for 
mulch the difference between plowing seven inches deep and eight inches 
deep equals twenty-five per cent in the area of the surface soil upon 
which the roots feed. 

Deep Plowing Saves the Soil. — Where the soils are light and winds 
drift them, shallow plowing may result in -all the top soil, down to the 
sole of the furrow, being blown away. Deep plowing, on the contrary, 
throws up heavier and rougher furrows, and tends to anchor the soil 
in place. Plowing deep, therefore, prevents both washing and drifting. 

Where Deep Plowing May Not Do. — Where soils are heavy, it often 
happens that only an inch or two of the surface is in condition for the 
growth of plants. Turning this surface soil under and covering it 
deeply with cold, untamed and unproductive clay, may prevent raising a 
good crop for longer time than it is desirable to wait. This seldom occurs 
in dry farming, for the summer fallow will tend to put the soil into tilth 
before the first crop is planted. Some soils may be so shallow that it 
is not well to plow them deep. Where irrigation is practiced in some 
of our drier regions, where the soil is very poor in vegetable matter, 
merely discing two or three inches of the surface often gives a better 
first crop of grain than plowing. Such soils must be irrigated often 
and carefully because the soil may wash and the area for storage of 
moisture is so small that it dries out quickly. Generally a soil that is 
suitable for dry farming is one which may be plowed deeply. 

Sub-Soil Plowing.— Subsoiling is done by using a digger which fol- 
lows the plow and tears up a few inches of the furrow sole or by means 
of a mole polw which is run underneath the furrow and lifts and 
breaks up the subsoil to the depth of fifteen inches or eighteen inches. 
It is expensive to prepare ground hy subsoiling and is not recommended 
for general practice. Our rainfall is so small that so large a reservoir 



±he Small Ranchman Usually Becomes Independent 



in a 



ew 



Y 



ears. 




■ 



A view of Mountain Ranch in Salt Creek Valley, near Newcastle, Weston County. Altitude, 5,100 Feet. 

There are hundreds of just such small ranches as this one and as a rule the owners are prosperous. By cultivating the available 
creek bottoms and raising hay and grain for winter feed for the cattle and sheep which range the sur- 
rounding hills, a constantly growing and profitable business is created. 

[17] 



is not needed for storage of moisture and where irrigation is practiced 
there seems no advantage from filling so much loose soil with water 
at one time. There are places where subsoiling is advisable, and it often 
proves profitable for root crops or preparation of land for tree planting. 

Second Plowing.- — The second time the soil is turned, plow about 
two inches shallower than the first plowing. This is to avoid turning 
up the undecomposed sod. In our dry climate it ordinarily takes more 
than one year to incorporate any vegetable matter plowed under, with 
the soil. Crops plowed under when green or well rotted manure, will 
become humus much more rapidly than will dried-out materials. Some- 
times it is best to back-set the land by turning the furrows the same 
direction as the first plowing". If the land is in good condition, cross- 
plowing will do more to pulverize and make a good seed bed. It is 
economy to make the lands as long as possible to avoid much turning 
at the corners and tramping. If a soil is plowed year after year at the 
same depth the sole of the furrow becomes packed and hardened by the 
smoothing action of the blow bottom, and by the tramping of the horses. 
This may bring good results sometimes where irrigation is practiced 
but in dry farming doing alternate plowing at different depths tends to 
break up the furrow sole and allow movement of moisture to and from 
the sub-soil. 

Good Plowing. — Good plowing is the kind that gives the best re- 
sults in the crop. What good plowing is, depends on conditions, but 
the work should be well done. Poor work always leaves its mark and 
the mark is always a minus sign when its results reach the pocket 
book. Good plowing may be defined as the smooth, even furrow so turned 
that the soil moved sets more or less on edge with few and small air 
spaces underneath, and with the furrow slice crushed and pulverized as 
much as possible. Good plowing indicates that all the soil is plowed. 
There should be no skips and the cut and cover method is absent. To 
do good plowing the furrow should be cut no wider than the plow-share 
and to be on the safe side good farmers cut an inch or two narrower 
than the size of their plows. The plow should be kept sharp and the 
lays properly shaped. A factor in good plowing is to do the work when 
the soil is in the right condition. This will differ on every farm. Heavy 
clay soils must not be plowed too wet. There is little danger of working 
our more sandy soils when wet. Western soils may be plowed when 
quite dry and left in condition to absorb the first rains or melting 
snow. The lime in them insures flocculation and there is little danger 
of dry puddling. 

When to Plow. — Late fall or early spring plowing is practiced 
to absorb moisture. In some parts of the West, where the rainfall 
comes mainly in the winter season, the soils may get so hard and dry 
that until the rains come it is not possible to plow them in the fall. 



[IS] 



Where the rainfall comes in the spring and summer the soils are usually 
in such condition that they may be plowed in the fall, though they 
are sometimes very dry. A comparatively new practice is to disc the 
sod or stubble immediately after a crop is harvested to save the moisture 
and keep the soils in condition to be fall plowed. The spring season 
is usually the most busy one and especially is this so at high altitudes 
where the spring work must be done in a very short time. Having 
the plowing out of the way by doing it in the fall, enables the farmer 
to get his crop in early in the spring, and it leaves the soil in the best 
condition for his seed bed. Small seeds, as alfalfa and grains, do much 
better if they are planted on plowed ground that has become fairly 
compact. Plowing for potatoes or root crops where the soil is compact 
should be done immediately before the time of planting. Plowing for fall 
sown grains, under the two year fallow system, is better done in fall if 
possible, or it may be done in spring or early summer. 

A Word About Plows. — The mould-board plow will do better work 
than the disc. On this account we strongly recommend the use of 
mould-board plows for first breaking the sod. Disc plows have come to 
stay, and while they do not do good enough work on sod, they give 
excellent results for stubble or other old ground, and the draft is 
easier than with the mould-board plow. The disc is also important to 
the dry farmer because with it he may plow soils so dry that the old 
form of plows could not be made to stay in the ground. The main 
difficulty with the disc plow is not so much in its use -as in its mis-use. 
Nearly every one tries to cut too wide a furrow with their discs, which 
results in a sort of cut and cover plowing which will not give the best 
crops. 

No one form of mould-board plow can be recommended for all 
soils. Where the soil contains much clay or gypsum and lime, we have 
found the steel mould-board will scour better than a chilled plow. We 
believe in using a plow with a steel mould-board and with interchange- 
able lays. The use of cast shares has some advantages. On hard soils 
they are cheaper. The old share when worn out is thrown away and the 
new one put on always leaves the plow fuli width. Every time a steel 
lay is sharpened it gets smaller, so a fourteen-inch plow does not remain 
fourteen inches. The steel lays are useful, however, in many soils, and 
if a farmer has a soil upon which he can use both kinds, he can take 
advantage of all these conditions. 

Power Plowing. — Where fields are large enough and long lands 
can be laid out, plowing by steam or gasoline is being adopted in many 
parts of the West. On our dry prairies, at considerable distances from 
water and coal supply, steam plowing proves expensive. There are new 
gasoline or kerosene power engines which are coming into much favor 
for both plowing and other forms of power needed on the farm. A 




Harvesting- Irrigated Oats on the Stoner Ranch, near Cokeville. Uinta County. Altitude, 6,192 Feet. Compare the 

Standing- Oats and Reaper Team. 



Wyoming oats are at the head of the dealers' list for weight per bushel, and prize winners wherever exhibited. 138 bushels per 
acre for 40 acres is a record crop, and weight 47 pounds per bushel, grown at Millbrook ranch, Albany County. Altitude 7,200 feet. 

[19] 



steam engine requires for its running an extra man and team with water 
tank, and where distances from water and coal are great, ' this item 
of expense is a large one. For hill roads in California or on hilly land, 
upright steam engines are adopted in order to keep them from burning, 
on account of the water flowing to one end of the horizontal boilers 
and leaving the plates bare. The main dificulty with any kind of power 
plowing, seems to be lack of knowledge and skill on the part of operators. 
This kind of work has been eminently successful where men who under- 
stand their business can be obtained to do the work. 



Advantages of Irrigation. 



IX everj- county in the state there are tracts of land favorably situated 
in regard to drainage upon which there is no doubt good crops can be 
raised by the dry farming method, but lands which are reclaimed by 
irrigation have a higher selling value, and a great proportion of the lands 
in Wyoming are only valuable for farming when placed under irrigation. 

Agriculture in the Big Horn Basin is an irrigation proposition. 
This will also apply to the Shoshone Indian Reservation, the valley of 
the North Platte and southern Wyoming, and the countless valleys of 
the smaller streams. Nowhere in the West are conditions more favorable 
for irrigation than in Wyoming. Our mountains furnish an abundant 
water supply which can be conserved at the least possible cost. The land, 
a rule, lying in terraces running back from the valleys of the streams, the 
distribution of the water is easy and economical. The yield from irrigated 
land is at least double that in the rain belt on the products which are 
generally raised in irrigated districts. The harvest is a certainty, as the 
timeh" application of water insures a crop, and there are practically no 
storms of rain and hail to lay waste the fields. The continual sunshine 
produces products of better quality. 

A water right when once secured attaches to the land and cannot 
be separated from it. The soil in almost all of our valleys is largely 
sedimentary. It is the wash from the disintegrated mountains and foot- 
hills, and, under natural conditions, produces the short grass and sage 
brush of the arid plains, by reason of the lack of sufficient moisture to 
fully utilize its fertility. 

The tremendous yields obtained under irrigation are simply due 
to the supply of sufficient water to liberate the elements of plant life. 
The fertilizers for which the farmers of the East have to spend thousands 
of dollars are already in the soil. Everything native to the central tem- 
perate zone can be raised with success, including cereals, forage, roots 
and fruit. In some parts of the state, Indian corn is successfully grown, 



but at the higher altitudes it is found that the nights are too cool for 
the growth necessary. 

The greatest forage crop is, of course, the natural grass, which 
covers more or less thickly the surface from the lowest valleys to the 
timber line of the mountain ranges. This native grass is one of the 
wonders of the semi-arid region, and its nutritive power renders stock 
growing both easy and profitable. 

The new settlers must be willing to take advantage of the experi- 
ence of their neighbors, and not attempt to grow grains or grasses which 
have, by experiment, been found not to be desirable for the particular 
locality in which they settle. The Wyoming Agricultural College at 
Laramie will be glad to send bulletins, upon request, showing investiga- 
tions of profitable crops grown at different altitudes. 

On the Laramie plains a forty-acre oat field produced one hundred 
and thirty- four bushels of oats to the acre (weight by measure A7]/ 2 
pounds per bushel), the elevation being in excess of 7,00(J feet. Another 
tract of ground, never before cropped, produced one hundred bushels to 
the acre. 

In Johnson County more than nine hundred bushels of potatoes 
were raised on one acre of ground. 

Fruit trees and small fruit do well in all parts of the state if 
proper protection is given to the young orchards and bushes. 

The advantages of irrigation are so marked that practical nurserymen 
are planting orchards under the canals, anticipating a much greater 
return from their young trees than possible in humid regions, it being 
found that the best orchards yield a full crop every year. 

AVERAGE WYOMING CROPS. 

The following is the average per acre of those crops upon which 
authentic reports could be obtained in 1905 : 

Alfalfa, per cutting ( two cuttings) 2^2 tons 

Timothy . 2 tons 

Native and other hays V/i tons 

Potatoes 201 bushels 

Onions 45 tons 

Parsnips 30 tons 

Carrots 25 tons 

Beets 35 tons 

Sugar Beets 22 tons 

Turnips 40 tons 

Tomatoes 190 bushels 

Cucumbers 133 bushels 

Peas 50 bushels 

Beans 22 bushels 

Pumpkins, number per acre 950 

Squash, number per acre ,,,.....,,,, 1,769 



[20] 



W ealth is Here in Power and Irrigation Possibilities. 




A View of Clear Creek, near Buffalo, in Johnson County. 

Clear Creek is one of the most important streams in Northern Wyoming, and during its course from the Big Horn Mountains, 
through the miles of fertile valley, lined with prosperous ranches, to its mouth, the waters of this stream 

are constantly contributing to the wealth of the State. 

[21] 



Watermelons, number per acre 1 , 1 1 S 

Muskmelons, number ner acre 1,112 

Cabbage " 2,719 

Cauliflower 4,000 

Wheat 30 bushels 

Barley 25 bushels 

Rye 20 bushels 

Oats 50 bushels 

Corn 20 bushels 

Raspberries 962 quarts 

Strawberries 6,920 quarts 

Cherries 4,356 quarts 

Blackberries 9,500 lbs. 

Currants 21,000 lbs. 

Gooseberries 29,000 lbs. 

CROPS AND FARM VALUES, 1907. 

Crop Acres Average Yield Average Price 

Planted Per Acre Per Bushel 

Corn 3,000 acres 25 bushels 70c 

Spring Wheat 30,000 acres 28.5 bushels 77c 

Oats 30,000 acres 37 bushels 53c 

Barley 4,000 acres 32 bushels 54c 

Rye 400 acres 23 bushels 66c 

Potatoes 5,000 acres 200 bushels 74c 

Hay 250,000 acres 2.1 tons $7.50 per ton 

Wyoming produced more oats than either Utah, Nevada, Louisiana, 
New Mexico or Arizona, more barley than Missouri or New Mexico. 
Wyoming produced an average of 2.10 tons per acre of hay, which was 
greater than the yield in Iowa, 1.40 tons; Nebraska, 1.50 tons; Mis- 
souri, 1.40 tons; Kansas, 1.15 tons; Texas, 1.30 tons; Montana, 1.70 
tons; Nevada, 1.74 tons; California, 1.75 tons; and New Mexico, 2.05 tons 
per acre. 

In Irish potatoes Wyoming's yield was 25% greater per acre than 
Colorado, Montana and Washington and double that of Utah. Note that 
the average yield in Wyoming was 200 bushels per acre, while the yield 
per acre in Iowa was but 75 bushels ; Nebraska, 73 bushels ; Missouri, 
82 bushels; Kansas, 65 bushels; Idaho, 145 bushels; Louisiana, 67 bush- 
els, and Texas, 73 bushels. Under irrigation larger crops are grown. 
Even corn yielded more per acre in Wyoming than in the -great corn 
growing states of Kansas and Nebraska. The corn crop in Nebraska 
averaged 24 bushels per acre, Iowa 29.5, Missouri 31, Kansas 22.1, Wy- 
oming- 25, Colorado 23, Utah 23. 

While the number of farms in Wyoming is less than in the more 
populous states, the value per r.cre is much higher. The farm values 



of the different states per acre are: Nebraska, $10.43; Iowa, $11.78; 
Missouri, $13.65 ; Kansas, $9.25 ; Wyoming, $18.89 ; Utah, $18.21. 

SOME ACTUAL YIELDS IN BIG HORN COUNTY. 

Bellow we give the average yields reported by some of the farmers 
in the immediate vicinity of Cody, for the season of 1907 : Geo. W. Burch, 
24 acres oats, 105 bushels per acre, weighing 40 pounds to the bushel. 
Wheat, 22 acres, 58 bushels per acre. 

Robert Looney threshed over 100 bushels of wheat to the acre. 

J. C. Lucas raised 50 bushels of wheat and 70 bushels of oats to the 
acre. 

John Corless, oats 33 acres, 1,482 bushels, weight 40 pounds, price 
$1.50 per 100 pounds. 

T. J. Walters, oats 21 acres, yield 30 bushels per acre, price re- 
ceived $2.00 per 100 pounds. 

C. R. Snyder, wheat 6 acres, vield 30 bushels per acre. Alfalfa, 200 
acres, 500 tons, price in stack $7.50. 

H. D. Thompson, oats 78 acres, 2,360 bushels. Wheat 28 acres, 561 
bushels. Potatoes 2 acres, 200 bushels. 

A. C. Johnson & Son raised iiY\. bushels of barley to the acre, 50 
bushels of potatoes on Y\ acre, and fair crops of oats and wheat. Mr. 
Johnson paid $15.50 per acre for his land in 1902; present value $60.00 per 
acre. 

M. L. Freeborg, five miles southeast of Cody, raised 60 bushels of 
oats to the acre that weighed 40 pounds to the bushel ; 300 bushels of 
potatoes on 1*4 acres that were sold for $1.50 per cwt ; 40 acres of 
alfalfa that sold from $11.00 to $12.00 per ton. 

Eric Hedstrom, three miles east of Cody, raised 28 bushels of oats 
to the acre on a 9-acre field, 5 acres of which was volunteer, and 8,000 
pounds of potatoes on an acre. Mr. Hedstrom purchased his land for 
$15.50 per acre and says present value is $75.00. 

Roy Myers purchased 40 acres in 1902 for $12.50 and 40 acres in 1906 
for $50.00 per acre, present value $125.00 per acre. He raised 100 bushels 
of potatoes to the acre, 7 bushels of alfalfa seed to the acre that is 
worth $9.00 per bushel ; has 500 strawberry plants doing well, 14J4 acres in 
bats and 20 acres in alfalfa. 

J. D. Kaufman, 12 acres of oats, 55 bushels per acre, weight 43 
pounds, price received $1.75 per 100 pounds; ^4 acre potatoes, 200 bush- 
els, price $1.20 per bushel. Alfalfa. 50 acres, 200 tons, price in stack 
$9.00. Alfalfa seed, 10 acres, 27 bushels, price $9.00 per bushel. Three 
acres in young orchard doing well. 

John P. Lindholm, five miles southeast of Cody, purchased his land 
for $15.50 per acre, present value $60.00 per acre. He raised 38 bushels 
of oats to the acre, 30 bushels of wheat and 2^4 tons of alfalfa. His 
oats weighed 43 pounds to the bushel and sold for $1.80 per cwt. His 
wheat sold for $1.40 per cwt., and alfalfa at $10.00 per ton. 



[22] 




A View of Farm House and Field of Irrigated Potatoes, in Grev Bull River Valley, Big Horn County. Altitude, about 3,400 ft, 

[23] 



Wyoming Has More Water for Irrigation Than Any Other W^ estern State. 




Big Wind River, which will furnish water for irrigating nearly 300,000 acres of land near Riverton, Fremont County. Looking up 

stream from the west boundary of the Shoshone Indian Reservation, 

[24] 



Wyoming Has Five Million Sneep, Valued at $17,000,000. 




A Band of 3,000 Sheep at Alcova, Natrona County, near the Great Government Dam for Storage of Water for Irrigation 

Projects in the North Platte Valley. 



Wyoming leads the West in the price per head for sheep, and the United States in the total value of its sheep, number and value 
of lambs, the amount and value of its wool clip and the average weight of fleece produced. 

[25] 



H. C. Fritzer. four miles southeast of Cody, says he paid $15.50 
per acre for his land and that the present value is $65.00 per acre. He 
sold $60.00 worth of tomatoes, and raised 600 bushels of oats, 145 bushels 
of wheat and 90 tons of alfalfa last year ; has 20 apple trees doing well 
and raspberries and blackberries of good quality. 

I. W. Howell, four miles east of Cody, purchased in 1903 160 acres 
at $15.50 per acre which he says he would not sell for less than $100.00 
per acre. Mr. Howell raised 61 bushels of oats to the acre on one field 
of 20 acres and 40 bushels to the acre on a field of 60 acres, which weighed 
45 pounds to the bushel and sold for $1.45 per cwt. ; 41 bushels of wheat 
to the acre, which sold for $1.25 per bushel, and 100 bushels of potatoes on 
T 4 acre, which sold at $1.50 per cwt. He also has 4,000 large broad-leaf 
cottonwood trees, which he considers the best for this country, and 75 
fruit trees doing well. He has 4,000 to 5,000 young cottonwoods for sale. 



State Lands. 



THE State of Wyoming has a little over three million acres of lands 
granted for the support of the common schools, and also receives five 
per cent of all money received by the general government for the sale 
of lands in Wyoming. The State also has nearly seven hundred thou- 
sand acres of land granted to the support of the various institutions. 

The State Land Board does not offer these lands for sale unless 
such sale seems to be to the benefit of the State by offering opportunities 
for home making or employment. When sold upon approved applications, 
the lands are offered at public auction and cannot be purchased for less 
than ten dollars an acre. Thirty per cent of the purchase price must 
be paid in cash, and the balance, if desired, may be paid in seven annual 
payments, with interest at six per cent. 

In order to secure revenue for the common schools and the various 
State institutions, the Boards lease the State lands to parties making 
application for same, preference in original applications being given to 
residents of the State. After lease has been secured, the party is entitled 
to a preference right to a renewal of same at the end of the five 
year term, at such valuation as may be fixed by the Board. Most of 
the grazing lands are rented for five cents per acre per year. Lands 
susceptible of irrigation run from ten to fifty cents per acre per year, 
while indemnity school lands selected in the place desired by the appli- 
cants bring rentals of from ten to twenty-five cents an acre. 

Information in regard to the lease of State lands can be secured 
by applying to the Commissioner of Public Lands, at Cheyenne. 



[26] 



STATS COAI, AND MINERAL LANDS. 

The State has a number of school sections containing mineral leads 
and valuable deposits of coal, which deposits were not known to exist 
in 1890, at the time of the passage of title from the United States. 
These sections can be rented and mined upon a royalty basis, but a 
sufficient deposit is required, so that the lands will not be held for 
speculative purposes. Full particulars in regard to the lease and sale of 
these lands can be had by applying to the Commissioner of Public Lands, 
Cheyenne, Wyoming. 



THE CAREY DESERT LAND ACT. 

"how to obtain a home." 

Under the provisions of the Act of Congress, approved August 18th, 
1894, donating to each of the arid land states one million acres of land, 
conditional upon its reclamation, the State of Wyoming has segregated 
forty-three tracts of land, aggregating nearly seven hundred and fifty 
thousand acres. In addition to the three hundred and twenty acres of 
land allowed by the government under the homestead and desert land 
laws to a qualified party, such party may also file upon one hundred and 
sixty acres under the Carey Act, providing that he purchase a water 
right from the association or company constructing a canal for the rec- 
lamation of the land, at a cost of from ten to forty dollars per acre, 
depending upon location. Not more than one-quarter of the purchase 
price can be required in advance from the settler, the remainder being 
payable in ten equal annual installments, with interest at from six to 
eight per cent per year. The settler has the privilege of paying all in 
cash if he so desires, or paying in full at the time fixed for any partial 
payment. Parties desiring to take up homesteads under this act are re- 
quested to write to the Commissioner of Public Lands, Cheyenne, who 
will be glad to give specific information in regard to any project, or to 
the address of the companies which have been granted contracts for 
reclamation, as shown in the following pages. Water rights to all lands 
acquired under the provisions of this act attach to and become appurtenant 
to the land. A payment of twenty-five cents per acre must be made at 
the time of making application for the land, and a fee of $1.00 paid; within 
three years the applicant must show reclamation of one-eighth of the 
land and a continuous residence after the first six months. Application 
for patent must be accompanied by the final payment of twenty-five cents 
an acre and a state fee of $2.00 for issuing the patent. If the land is 
reclaimed within the first six months, upon the showing of the con- 
struction of a substantial house and residence of not less than thirty 
days immediately prior to the date of making final proof the applicant 
may procure a patent for the land and may obtain such patent at any 
time after six months, upon making the proper showing. 



This was the Pioneer Horticultural Experiment m Wyoming 




Ed. Young's Apple Orchard at Lander, Fremont County. Twenty-five Varieties are Successfully Grown. Altitude, 5,000 Feet. 

Here is demonstrated by actual practice the raising of apples and other fruits at high altitudes. On the Laramie Plains, at an alti- 
tude of 7,400 feet, Mr. Jacob Lund matures Wealthy apples each year. At each county and state fair there is 
active competition among fruit enthusiasts for the place of honor for their products. 

[27] 



The State Land Board does not allow a canal company to sell water 
rights until its canal is completed to the point of diversion of the water 
contracted for, unless it is provided that the contract and money, or 
evidence of indebtedness, are deposited with the application of the set- 
tler and the proper fees, in escrow in the office of_the Commissioner of 
Public Lands, there to be held until the canal is ready to deliver water. 
This allows the settler to begin the improvement of his land in the 
season prior to the anticipated completion of the canal, so that when the 
canal is ready to furnish water, he is ready to put in a crop and make 
his final proof the same season. 

A party having- an uncompleted homestead entry under the United 
States law cannot make application for lands under the Carey Act until 
he is in position to make his home upon the land. 

DISPOSITION OF MONEY. 

The fifty cents per acre received by the State for these lands creates 
a fund for the reclamation of other lands, which is desposited in the 
State Treasury pending the accumulation of an amount sufficient to finance 
some reclamation project. 

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE — CANAES CONSTRUCTED. 

The Arid Land Act is now proving to be the most beneficial to the 
State of Wyoming of all United States laws, as Wyoming has more 
streams than any other western state. 

The State Land Board has taken especial and practical interest in 
furthering the interest of the settlers. The state and national governments 
afford perfect protection for capital invested and to the settler for title 
to his land and the perpetuity of his water right. There is no possibility 
of loss to the individual investors or the settlers. The soil, climate and 
altitude of Wyoming are especially adapted to the most profitable crops 
grown by irrigation. 

LIST OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS. 

The following projects are ready for settlers and detailed information 
ran be procured by writing to the addresses given, or by applying to 
the Commissioner of Public Lands, Cheyenne : 

Cody Canal Association, Cody, Wyoming. 

Big Horn Basin Colonization Company, Cowley, Wyoming. 

Big Horn Count}' Irrigation Company, Basin, Wyoming. 

Hanover Canal Company, Worland, Wyoming. 

Sahara Ditch Company, Buffalo, Wyoming. 

North Platte Canal & Colonization Company, Wyncote, Wyoming. 

Boulder Lake Canal, Boulder or Rock Springs, Wyoming. 

Lovell Irrigation Company, Lovell, Wyoming. 

Wheatland Industrial Company, Cheyenne or Wheatland, Wyoming. 



[28] 



Eden Irrigation Company, Rock Springs, Wyoming. 

James Lake Irrigation Company, Laramie, Wyoming. 

The following projects are not completed, but some of them will 
no doubt be able to make contracts for delivery of water at a future 
date, and parties desiring to settle under the canal should write them 
direct for specific information : 

The La Prele Ditch & Reservoir Company, Douglas, Wyoming. 

Medicine Wheel Canal Company, Basin, Wyoming. ' 

Wyoming Land & Irrigation Company, Marquette Building Chicago, 
Illinois. 

Lake View Irrigation Company, Cody, Wyoming. 

Elk Canal Company, Lovell, Wyoming. 

Tensleep & Bonanza Canal, 645 Cass St., Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

Thermopolis Irrigation & Investment Company, Thermopolis, Wyo- 
ming. 

Other companies having projects under way not yet sufficiently ad- 
vanced to warrant settlement, are : 

Big Horn Basin Development Company, Cody, Wyoming. 

Western Land & Irrigation Company, Saratoga, Wyoming. 

North Platte & Encampment Canal Company, Encampment, Wyo- 
ming. 

Hubbard Canal Company, First National Bank Building, Cheyenne, 
Wyoming. 

The Green River Land & Irrigation Company. 

Green River Cartal Company. 

McDonald Canal. 

Hawk's Spring Canal. 

Utah & Wyoming Canal & Reservoir Company. 

Carbon County Land & Irrigation Company, Cheyenne, Wyoming. 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR CAPITAL. 

There are many opportunities for investment along streams where 
water can be stored. This kind of development is often delayed until 
the summer flow of streams is entirely utilized. Stored water always 
guarantees a good water supply and where conditions are favorable for 
impounding the surplus flow of streams some of the best and most pros- 
perous agricultural communities will spring up. The largest project of 
this character that has been investigated lies south of the Grey Bull River 
in Big Horn County. The plans thus far .outlined consist of a supply 
canal taking water from the Grey Bull River to storage works located 
on the heads of Cottonwood and Gooseberry Creeks. The lands to be 
reclaimed lie along these creeks. It is estimated that from 75.000 to 
150,000 acres of land can be reclaimed under such a system. Surveys in 
detail have not yet been made and such a study should be completed 
before plans are made looking toward investment. This is a field for 
investigation and those who are seeking an opportunity to carry a large 



Fruit Raising is Becoming One of the Important Industries of the State. 



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Jacob Lund and his orchard on the Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,400 feet, where Wealthy apples are matured each year. 

[29] 



undertaking- to completion might well afford to make such surveys as 
would enable estimates of cost to be made. The project is now known 
as the "Buffalo Basin" enterprise. 

As most of the feasible projects requiring the expenditure of a limited 
amount of capital have already been taken by local capitalists and asso- 
ciations, the attention of the investor is called to the fact that many of 
the large ranches of the State include areas of irrigable land to which 
early priorities for water are attached. The Ora Haley ranch, referred 
to in the Albany County pamphlet, is an example in point. This ranch 
is reported sold for a large amount, and is to be divided up into small 
farms and sold to settlers. The Bell ranch on the Laramie Plains, also 
in Albany County, has already been divided into smaller tracts, each of 
which is to support a new family, and many of them are already taken. 

There are man}' opportunities for investments of this character, and 
the subdivision of the ranches into farms will insure a large profit to 
parties having the proper capital to invest. Any prospective settler desiring 
to purchase a small ranch is invited to correspond with the Department 
of Immigration, stating in what part of the state he desires to locate and 
how much capital he desires to invest. The Department will endeavor to 
place him in communication with some reliable party who will advise 
him of lands of the character desired which may be for sale in the specified 
locality. 

There are a number of projects in different portions of the State 
which have been either too large for private enterprise or on which the 
first applicants have not completed their contracts and the lands are 
again available for entry and settlement by competent and reliable com- 
panies or associations seeking" large and permanent investments. 

The State Board of Land Commissioners guards the interests both of 
the settler and of the investor, and will do all in its power to promote 
the settlement and advancement of the state. 

Capitalists are invited to enter into correspondence with the Commis- 
sioner of Public Lands and State Engineer, who will give them such 
information as is at their disposal. 



(government Lands. 



HOMESTEAD LAW. 

A HOMESTEAD entryman must be the head of a family, or person 
who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, a citizen of the 
United States, or one who has declared his intention to become 
such, and not the proprietor of more than 160 acres of land in the United 
States, 



[30] 



A woman can make a homestead entry as the head of a family, or 
femme sole, when over the age of twenty-one years, or a wife divorced 
from her husband, or deserted, so that she is dependent upon her own 
resources for support. A single woman making a homestead entry who 
marries before making proof may obtain title if she continues to reside 
upon the land. 

Settlement must be made upon the land within six months of date 
of entry, and a residence of five years is required before making final 
proof. 

Commutation can be made by making proof of settlement and residence 
and cultivation of the land for a period of fourteen months from the date 
of entry and paying $1.25 per acre for the land (or $2.50 per acre if within 
20 miles of Union Pacific Railroad.) 

The fees in the United States Land Office are $22.00 for 160 acres 
outside the Union Pacific land grant, same covering alternate sections of 
land for twenty miles on either side of main line of the Union Pacific 
Railroad, and $34.00 for 160 acres inside said grant. 

A second homestead entry rs granted to all those who lost, forfeited 
or abandoned their entries prior to February 8, 1908, provided the former 
entry was not cancelled for fraud or relinquished for a consideration. 

Thousands of tracts of land, suitable for farming, under the dry 
farming system, are available for homestead entry. Prospective immi- 
grants should, by all means, investigate the lands in Wyoming before 
taking up homesteads. 

What constitutes residence upon a homestead entry? This question 
has puzzled the brain of many a man and woman who had a burning 
desire to acquire title to 160 acres of Uncle Sam's domain without living 
thereon for a period of five years. Some have the erroneous idea that 
a person may file a homestead claim, visit the same and sleep over night 
once in six months, and after five years of such residence (?) make 
final proof. It can only be done with a liberal amount of perjury thrown 
in. Visits to claims once in six months, or even oftener, do not con- 
stitute residence. It has been repeatedly held by the Secretary of the In- 
terior that the home of the claimant must be upon the homestead to the 
exclusion of a home elsewhere — that the land must be actually inhabited. 

The belief that the homestead law may be complied with in the 
matter of residence by visiting the land once in six months has doubt- 
less grown up through the decisions of the Department that an ab- 
sence of six months constitutes abandonment. In the days when the laws 
were loosely administered it was probably the practice of some to go to 
their claims and sleep once in six months, or perhaps oftener, and then 
secure witnesses who were willing to swear that the claimant actually 
inhabited the land. In such cases, and when there were no examina- 
tions made, the land officers were powerless, being compelled, in the ab- 




Summer in Wyoming is a most delightful season. The above pi cture shows some fine lawns and grateful shade from glorious 

trees, at Buffalo, August, 1908, 

[31] 



sence of other testimony, to take the perjured evidence of the claimant 
and witnesses and pass the claim to patent. 

The view has also been held by many that a single man has rights 
in the matter of residence superior to those of a married man. Where 
the truth is adhered to, this is not the case. A single man must live 
upon his claim just as faithfully as the married man; in fact, the married 
man may be absent from his claim practically all of the time earning a liv- 
ing if his family is inhabiting the land during his absence. In this 
respect the rights of the married man are superior to those of the single 
man. 

Just what constitutes homestead residence has never been laid down 
by the Interior Department, and probably never will be. Each case is 
judged upon its own merits. It is pretty well established, however, 
what does not constitute residence, and it may be taken for granted 
that a person who maintains a family in one domicile while he is pretend- 
ing to live upon a homestead is treading upon rather thin ice. The single 
man who has a ten-by-twelve cabin on a piece of land and sleeps in 
that cabin once in six months, choosing warm nights for the occasions, 
may also be considered beyond the pale of the law. The home, as a 
matter of fact, is easily recognized. It is where one lives — eats, sleeps, 
cooks, does washing, keeps his wife and babies, and enjoys the comforts 
and blessings of life. It is not a makeshift for the purpose of defraud- 
ing Uncle Sam of 160 acres of land. 

In great generosity this beneficent government passed a law grant- 
ing to those who are qualified title to 160 acres of land, provided they 
would live upon the same for a period of five years ; or, in case claim- 
ants found themselves unable to live there for five years, then permis- 
sion is given to make commutation proof after a period of fourteen 
months' residence, by the payment of $1.25 per acre where the land 
is beyond the railroad limits, or $2.50 per acre where the land is within 
railroad limits. Where entrymen elect to commute their entires after 
fourteen months, their evidence as to residence is scrutinized with greater 
care than if they elect to live upon the land for a period of five years. 
A recent ruling of the Interior Department requires that in case of 
entries made after November 1, 1907, commutation can only be made 
after fourteen months' actual residence on the land. The constructive 
residence of six months allowed in ordinary homestead cases is not al- 
lowed. All entries made prior to November 1, 1907, however, may be 
proved up with six months' constructive residence and eight months' 
actual residence. 

The price of the homestead is the making of a home upon the land. 
The purpose is the settlement of the country and the building up of the 
nation. Those who do not make their homes in good faith upon the 
land are not complying with the spirit and purpose of the homestead 
law and cannot expect patent. 



[33] 



DESERT LAND ENTRIES. 

The right to make desert land entries is restricted to resident citizens 
of the state. The entryman must expend $1.00 per acre each year for 
three years, and file proof thereof during each year, or he can make 
his final proof and receive patent prior to the expiration of three years by 
showing the expenditure of $3.00 per acre and the reclamation of one- 
eighth of the land, which must be five acres for each forty-acre tract. 
A payment of twenty-five cents an acre is required at the time of making 
entry, and $1.00 per acre at the time of making final proof, and only 
lands which will not, without artificial irrigation, produce an agricultural 
crop, are deemed desert lands. No person can enter more than 320 
acres of land in the aggregate, so that a party making a homestead entry 
can only make a desert entry of 160 acres. 

DESERT LAND FINAL PROOF. 

During the past three years the regulations relating to final proof 
upon desert land claims have been changed so frequently that few entry- 
men are aware of just what is required by the Land Department. Even 
the clerks of court, United States Commissioners and local land officers 
are not always certain as to the requirements in the matter of water 
rights. 

If claimants will scrupulously adhere to the following instructions 
it is probable they will have no trouble in securing patent : 

First — It must be shown that claimant has expended in permanent 
improvements, such as water right, ditching, grubbing sagebrush, first 
plowing of the land, fencing, etc., an amount equaling three dollars per 
acre. 

Second — It must be shown that claimant has irrigated all the land 
within his claim susceptible of practical irrigation, and that he has raised 
an agricultural crop upon at least one-eighth of the entry. If there 
are any high places or rocky portions that cannot be irrigated, the facts 
relating thereto should be explicitly set forth in the proof, and if there 
are any entire subdivisions that cannot be reclaimed, they must be 
relinquished. 

Third — If an agricultural crop cannot be raised upon the land be- 
cause of its altitude or other unusual conditions, then a merchantable 
crop of hay will be accepted in lieu thereof, but all the facts as to why 
an agricultural crop cannot be raised on one-eighth of the land must 
be fully set forth. An "increased growth of grass" will not be accepted 
as sufficient in any event. 

Fourth — Claimant must show title to a permanent right to the use 
of sufficient water to irrigate all the land in his claim that is susceptible 
of irrigation. If this title is secured under the state law through the 
State Engineer's office, then a copy of the certificate of appropriation from 
the Board of Control should be furnished ; or, if the certificate has not 
been issued, a copy of the permit from the office of the State Engineer 



±ke Country South of the National Park is a V eritable W onderland. 




Jackson Lake and Mt. Moran, one of the grand views for which Northwestern Wyoming is justly famous, 

[33] 



showing the land areas covered and that the completion of the appro- 
priation has been reported to the State Engineer's office. Care should 
be taken to have the permit for a sufficient acreage to cover all the land 
in the entry that can be irrigated, for the reason that the Land Depart- 
ment will not accept proof showing water right for a lesser acreage than 
can be reclaimed. 

The most recent regulation in the matter of water rights promulgated 
by the Commissioner reads as follows : 

"That the regulations governing final proofs in desert land entries 
be modified to require the entryman to show in making final proof 
that he has a right to the use of sufficient water to properly irrigate 
the irrigable land in his entry ; that he has done all that the laws of the 
state or territory require him to do for the maintenance of that right, 
and that he has actually used the water for the irrigation of the land 
embraced in his entry." 

A second desert land entry is given to those who lost, forfeited or 
abandoned their former entries prior to March 26, 1908, provided the 
former entry was not cancelled for fraud or relinquished for a consid- 
eration. 

It is the rule of the Land Department in all agricultural land cases 
to accept the testimony of a claimant and two witnesses in all matters 
that do not require record evidence. After desert claimants have se- 
cured from the office of the State Engineer a copy of their permits, 
with the notation thereon that report of completion was filed upon a 
certain date, it would appear that all other evidence relating to the di- 
version of the water, the dams, ditches, irrigation, etc., could just as 
readily be furnished by the claimant and witnesses as by a Water Com- 
missioner acting through the office of the State Engineer, and it is be- 
lieved that such proof would be accepted' by the Land Department. 

In taking final proofs upon desert land entries, clerks of court and 
United States Commissioners should exercise great care in taking the 
evidence of claimants and witnesses in the matter of water rights. The 
testimony should be as full and complete as it is possible to get it, cov- 
ering in detail all the points mentioned in the foregoing requirements. 

ISOLATED TRACTS. 

When a tract of government land, containing 160 acres or less, is 
entirely surrounded by deeded lands or lands applied for under any of 
the provisions of law, the said tract is deemed an isolated tract and 
may be purchased at not less than from $1.25 to $2.50 per acre. The ap- 
plicant must make a deposit to cover the advertising expense and must 
bid the land in at public auction. If the land is within the railroad 
limits, a minimum price of $2.50 per acre is charged. 

Each application for the purchase of any isolated tract is subjected to 
the most rigid scrutiny by the Department, and all answers to questions 
must be reduced to writing, signed and sworn to before the Register 



[34] 



or Receiver, who will, in addition, make inquiries as to the good faith of 
the applicant and his purpose in having the lands ordered into market. 
No sale will be authorized upon the application of a person who has 
purchased, under section 2445 R. S., or the amendments thereof, any 
lands, the area of which when added to the land applied for shall ex- 
ceed approximately 160 acres, and no sale will be authorized for more 
than approximately 160 acres embraced in one application. 

TIMBER AND STONE ACT. 

The Act of Congress of June 3, 1878, as amended by the Act of 
August 4, 1892, provides for the sale of timber or stone lands, each 
qualified person or association being entitled to enter 160 acres. The 
land must be chiefly valuable for timber or stone and unfit for cultiva- 
tion at the time of the sale. It must be unreserved, unappropriated, 
uninhabited and without improvements, except for ditch or canal purposes, 
save such as were made by or belong to the applicant. Mineral lands 
cannot be taken under the act. One entry only can be taken by a person 
or an association of persons. In case of an association of persons, each 
member must be a qualified entryman ; that is, a citizen of the United 
States or one who has declared his intention to become a citizen. A 
married woman may take a timber and stone claim, but must furnish 
evidence that she is purchasing the same from her own individual funds. 

In the case of timber and stone entries the government requires that 
the entire purchase price shall be paid down at the time of making final 
proof, which must be offered within ninety days of the time of filing 
the sworn statement in the land office. The purchase price is confiscated 
by the government in case fraud is proved. The only other expense, 
in addition to the price per acre for the land, is the Register and Re- 
ceiver's fee of ten dollars and the cost of reducing the testimony to writ- 
ing, about $2.50. Under this act the land is appraised and sold at the 
approved value, not less than $2.50 per acre. 

To acquire title to land under this act, it must be clearly established 
that it is more valuable for either timber or stone, as the case may be, 
than for any other purpose. If the land is taken for timber, it must 
be proved that there is timber thereon which renders it more valuab'.e 
therefor than for any other purpose for which it might be used. It has 
been held by the Secretary of the Interior that "timber,'' as the word 
is used in said act, refers to such trees as are valuable for commercial 
purposes, and does not include trees that are valuable only as cord- 
wood. 

Where entries are taken for stone, they may include limestone or 
slate. It must be shown in every case, however, that the land is more 
valuable for the stone it contains than for an}' other purpose. 

No residence is required on a timber and stone claim, and patent 
can be secured in about a year's time, where there is no taint of fraud 
connected with the application or proof. 



Sheridan County has a Lower Altitude than Any Other County in the State. 



F.anch Scene en Beaver Creek, near Sheridan, in Sheridan County. Altitude, 3,500 Fest. 

One of the most prosperous farming communities of the West is the region surrounding Sheridan, in Sheridan County, where ev- 
erything in the vegetable, fruit and grain line can be raised. A number of coal mining towns and rail- 
road facilities provide ready markets. 

[35] 



MINES AND MINERAL LANDS. 

Lands valuable for deposits of mineral, such as fire and pottery 
clay, marble, asphalt, soda, sulphur, diamonds or of the precious com- 
mon metals, are subject to sale under the mining laws. A location must 
be first duly made and recorded, and certain sums must be annually ex- 
pended. Five hundred dollars' worth of labor and improvements must be 
laid out on each claim before patent can be applied for. The rules and 
regulations and methods of procedure are too extensive and complex 
to be reviewed at length in the compass of this brief article. Mining 
locations defeat all railroad and state selections, if the mines and minerals 
were known to exist, or were discovered prior to the date of govern- 
ment survey and the lands marked mineral, or the time the road and state 
claims took effect. Homestead, desert and timber and stone entries cannot 
embrace known mineral lands, unless it can be first shown that the 
lands sought to be entered are more valuable for agricultural purposes 
than for the mineral they contain. 

The extent of the Wyoming coal measures is indicated by the fact 
that sixteen million acres were withdrawn by the General Land Office 
under orders of the president in 1906. The greater portion of this land 
is now restored to coal entry, but a large area near mines now in active 
operation is still withdrawn. By making inquiry at the local land office 
of the district in which the coal land upon which filings are to be made 
is situated, the applicant can secure complete information of the present 
conditions. 

The United States land offices for the several districts in Wyoming 
are as follows : Albany, Carbon and Laramie Counties, and a few town- 
ships of southeastern Sweetwater and southeastern Fremont County, at 
Cheyenne, Wyoming ; Sweetwater and Uinta Counties, at Evanston, Wyo- 
ming; Fremont and western Bio- Horn County, at Lander; Johnson, 
Sheridan and eastern Big Horn County, at Buffalo ; Crook and Weston, 
at Sundance ; Converse and Natrona, at Douglas. 

By writing to the Department of Immigration, Cheyenne, copies of 
mining laws of the United States and State of Wyoming, as well as other 
printed matter relative to the irrigation and mining enterprises of the 
state and a large complete map of the state will be sent without charge 



Government Reclamation. 



WYOMING takes pride in the Act of June 17th, 1902, providing 
for the use of the moneys received from the sale of public 
lands for the reclamation of arid lands by the government. Its 
representatives in Congress have advocated government reclamation for 
many years, and this act is the result of their tireless efforts. All the 



[36] 



moneys received from the sale of public lands go into a fund for the 
building of reservoirs and canals for the storage of water for irriga- 
tion. About fifty millions of dollars have already been placed to the credit 
of this fund, and it is safe to state that during the next ten years 
fully ten millions of dollars will be expended in Wyoming under this 
act, giving opportunity for settlers to obtain work while awaiting the 
delivery of water to their homesteads. 

NORTH PLATTE PROJECT. 

The reservoir project, known as the Pathfinder, contemplates the 
building of an immense dam, three miles below the mouth of the Sweet- 
water River on the North Platte River, fifty miles above the town of 
Casper. The dam will be of masonry, constructed in a granite canon 
about two hundred feet deep, eighty feet at the bottom and one hun- 
dred and seventy-five feet at the top, covering about twenty-two thousand 
acres and storing one million acre feet of water. The entire flow of the 
Platte River passes through this reservoir and can be stored. The 
stored water will be turned loose and allowed to run down the river 
to the points of diversion of the several canals under contemplation. 
Power may be developed here whenever necessary. The elevation of the 
reservoir is about fifty-eight hundred feet above sea -level. 

CANALS. 

The first canal, contemplated below the reservoir, heads about eight 
miles above the town of Casper, on the south side of the river, and 
extends easterly to a point about opposite Douglas, Wyoming. The 
amount of land under the canal is about 30,000 acres. Preliminary sur- 
veys and estimates only have been made. These estimates show that 
the cost of reclamation will probably exceed $25 per acre. Most of the 
land is in private ownership. The second canal is on the north side 
of the river, heading about opposite Glenrock and extending to Orin. It 
controls about 20,000 acres. The cost will probably be in excess of $25. 
Most of this land is in private ownership. Preliminary surveys only have 
been made. 

The Contemplated Goshen Hole Canal heads at the town of Guernsey, 
where a diversion dam 100 feet high is necessary. The length of the 
canal will be about 140 miles, of which six miles will be in tunnel. 
The area of land covered is about 150,000 acres, a large part being public 
land. The cost of reclamation has not been definitely determined, but 
it will probably be in the neighborhood of $35 per acre. The feasibility 
of the canal has not yet been passed upon, further investigation being 
necessary. 

Fort Laramie Canal, heading about eight miles above old Fort Lar- 
amie, on the south side of the river, covers some 50,000 acres, about 
equally divided between Wyoming and Nebraska. Twenty-five thousand 



These Springs are Forever Free to All Comers, 




A Near View of the Great Hot Springs, Thirty Feet in Diameter and of Unknown Depth. Flowing- Thousands of 
Gallons Daily of Scalding Hot Medicinal "Waters, at Big Horn Hot Springs, Thermopolis. 

When the Indians ceded this land to the State, Chief Washakie insisted that they should always be free to anyone who needed 

them, and the State has erected a stone bath house, free to all. Extensive grounds are reserved for those who come and 

camp at the springs, as well as private sanitariums and the Hotel Emery, one of the best in Wyoming. 

[37] 



acres are included in the estimate of the 150,000 acres under the Goshen 
Hole Canal. Preliminary surveys only have been made, but the indica- 
tions are that the project is feasible. 

Tlw Interstate Canal heads at the same point as the Fort Laramie 
Canal, namely, eight miles above old Fort Laramie. There will be 
a diversion dam of concrete, 300 feet long, raising water ten feet above 
the bed of the river. This canal will be an enlargement of the Whalen 
Falls Canal. About 20,000 acres lying under the canal will be irrigated 
by the Whalen Falls Canal Company. Water is now available for this 
land. 

Forty-five miles of canal in Wyoming have been constructed, and it 
is expected that the contract for the next fifty miles of canal will 
cover some 10,000 acres in Wyoming and some 50,000 acres in Nebraska, 
almost all of which is public land. The canal, when completed, will 
cover probably 100,000 acres of land and it is hoped that it will extend 
as far east as Bridgeport. The cost per acre will probably not exceed $35. 
The Whalen Falls Canal has a priority calling for 280 cubic feet per 
second of water, but has no reservoir right. It is proposed to build 
all the laterals from the main canal, reaching practically every farm 
area. These farm areas will probably consist of eighty acres of good 
arable land, the homestead entry being limited to that amount. It is also 
proposed to build other canals on both sides of the river in Nebraska, 
probably by the extension of existing canals. This matter has not 
been investigated, but it is hoped to bring 50,000 acres more under cul- 
tivation by this means. The area to be irrigated, especially that in 
Nebraska and in the Goshen Hole, is comparable with land in and about 
Greeley, Colorado. The elevation is about 4,000 feet and the rainfall 
about thirteen inches per annum. The character of the soil is a sandy 
loam, with little alkali and little adobe. The ■ Burlington railroad runs 
the entire length of the Goshen Hole and Interstate Canal lands. It is 
some 500 miles from Omaha and some 250 miles from Denver. The 
prevailing winds are from the northwest. The mean temperature is 
about 45°, with a miximum of 98° and a minimum of 20°. Humidity, 
65 per cent. The evaporation over the area to be irrigated is about 
the same as for Eastern Colorado. Corn is successfully grown, frosts 
seldom interfering with its maturing. 

SHOSHONE PROJECT. 

Works Proposed — The storage reservoir will be on Shoshone River, 
in Township 52 North, Range 103 West. It includes the lower portions 
of the North and South Forks of the river. Capacity at proposed flow 
line, 230 feet above bottom of river channel, 456,000 acre feet. Area of 
flooded area, 6,600 acres. Mean depth, 69 feet. 

The storage dam is located at tbe head of Shoshone Canon in Section 
7, Township, 52 North, Range 102 West. It will be seventy-five feet 



138] 



long at bottom of river channel, 200 feet long on top, and about 300 
feet in height above its foundation, which is about sixty feet below the 
bottom of the river channel. It will be an arched dam of concrete. 
Waste way will be 250 feet in length and connecting with a tunnel through 
the granite wall, which will discharge the surplus water into the river 
bed be?ow the dam. 

There will be two outlet conduits, leaving the reservoir at ten feet 
and sixty feet, respectively, above the bed of the river. The one leaving 
the reservoir at the elevation of ten feet will be a tunnel ten feet by 
ten feet in cross-section, 500 feet in length, and will discharge the water, 
which will be controlled by suitable gates, into the river channel below 
the dam, from which point it will flow down the channel to the lower 
diversion point near Corbett, a distance of sixteen miles. The upper con- 
duit will be divided into four sections. Section 1 will be six feet by 
seven feet through granite, 3.230 feet in length, grade 2.64 feet per mile, 
capacity 500 second-feet. Section 2 will be a tunnel through granite and 
sand-stone, 2,593 feet in length, and will have the same cross-section, 
grade and capacity as Section 1. Between Sections 1 and 2 suitable 
waste gates will be placed. The water in Sections 1 and 2 will be under 
pressure from the reservoir. Section 3 will be an open cut, fourteen 
feet wide on the bottom; side slopes, 1 T ^ to 1; depth of water, 7 
feet; grade, 2.112 feet per mile; length, 3.000 feet; capacity, 500 second- 
feet. Section 4 will be a tunnel through limestone, with concrete lining; 
cross-section, 8 feet by 8 feet ; grade, 7.92 feet per mile ; length, 8,600 
feet ; capacity, 500 second-feet. At the end of this section the conduit 
reaches the upper portion of the irrigable land. 

Canal Lines — High line starts from lower end of- outlet tunnel. 
Bottom width, 26 feet: death, 6 feet; side slopes, 1 in 2; grade, 1.056 
feet per mile; capacity, 500 second-feet; length, 22 miles. Will irrigate 
20,000 acres. At Eaglenest Creek it will be divided into three main 
laterals for irrigation of 20,000 acres north of Ralston. Low line canal 
heads in Shoshone River, sixteen miles below the damsite, or near 
Corbett station. A low diversion dam is already built. The first section 
will be a tunnel three and one-half miles long through sandstone and 
shale, and will be lined. Water section will be 10 feet by 10 feet ; grade, 
6 feet per mile ; capacity, 1,000 second-feet. Below the tunnel the water 
will enter the main low-line canal which will extend to Frannie, a dis- 
tance of forty-two miles, irrigating 80,000 acres. For ten miles the 
section of the canal will be : Bottom width. 38 feet ; depth, 7.5 feet ; 
side slopes, 1 in 2: grade, 1.056 feet per mile; capacity, 1,000 second- 
feet. Below this point the canal will be gradually decreased in size. 

The total area of the reclaimed land will be about 120,000 acres. 
It is announced that 30,000 acres will be available for entry on May 1, 
1908, at a cost of $45 per acre for water rights, no interest being charged 
on deferred payments. Practically all this land is public domain, and is, 



A Vacation Spent in This Country Would he ^Vell "Worth While. 




Summit of the Wind River Mountains, between Big Wind Rive r and Buffalo Fork, showing some scattered timber and fine 

grazing lands in the Yellowstone National Forest Reserve. 

[39] 



Government Reclamation Vv ork Means Much to Wyoming 




Canon of the Shoshone River at the site of the Government Dam, showing some of the machinery for handling the concrete. 
The concrete of the dam was seven feet below the still water shown underneath the bridge across the canon, May, 1908. 

[40] 




View of Redman's Ranch in Clear Creek Valley, Johnson County. A Typical Cattle Ranch Scene in Northern Wyoming'. 

The beautiful valleys of this and other Northern Wyoming counties are lined with prosperous ranches, and the cattle range on the 

adjacent hills, where the nutritious native grasses keep them fat and make Wyoming grass-fed cattle proverbial 

for their size and excellent beef. This wonderful grass made Wyoming a reality. 

[41] 



therefore, subject to the conditions of the reclamation act. The farm 
unit has not been determined. 

Roods— A wagon road from the lower end._of Shoshone Canon to 
the damsite, a distance of four miles., has been built. The road will be 
extended around the reservoir to replace the portion of the road be- 
tween Cody and Yellowstone Park, which will be covered by the reservoir. 

Location— Big Horn County, Wyoming. Latitude, from 44° 30' to 
45° X ■ longitude, from 108° 30' to 109° 20' W. Townships 52 to 58 
North Ranges 96 to 103 West of 6th Principal Meridian. The town 
of Cody is in the upper portion of this tract. The Cody branch of the 
Burlington railroad traverses the tract. Distances by rail from Cody via 
Burlington railroad : 

To Omaha, 982 miles. 

To Chicago, 1,461 miles. 

Topography— Irrigable lands are gently rolling bench lands; elevation, 
4 COO to 5,000 feet. The drainage area above Cody is 1,480 square miles; 
above the damsite, 1,380 square miles. It includes the eastern slope of 
the Continental Divide in Yellowstone Park; elevation, 10,000 to 12 - 
COO feet. The major part of the drainage area is m Yellowstone Park 
and the Yellowstone Forest Reserve. 

Cii ma tc— Rainfall, from 8 to 16 inches. Run-off at Cody during 1903 
was 1.027,900 feet, or 13 inches. Prevailing direction of winds is from 
the West. Temperature: Maximum, 95; minimum, 20; mean, 42 . 
Humidity, 65 per cent. 

Agricultural Possibilities— Value of non-irrigated lands, $1.25 per acre 
Value' of irrigated lands, $25 to $75 per acre. Types of soil, clay and 
sandy. Crops, alfalfa (two crops), oats, wheat, barley and vegetables. 
Range lands, ample. Fuel, ccal, widely distributed. 

WIND RIVER RESERVATION. 

By Act of Congress of March 3rd, 1905, part of the Shoshone or 
Wind" River Reservation was opened for settlement under the Home- 
stead Act in July, 1905. The portion ceded to the government and 
opened for settlement embraces the land lying north and east of the 
Big Wind River, and is to be disposed of only under the provisions of 
the homestead, townsite, coal and mineral land laws of the United 
States. The land lies at an elevation of from forty-three hundred to six 
thousand feet. Nearly three hundred thousand acres of virgin land 
can be irrigated from the great Wind River, one of the sources of the 
Missouri River, with two thousand square miles of timbered mountains 
and their vast snow banks, with lakes and reservoirs holding three hun- 
dred thousand acre feet of water, as the source of water supply. 



[42] 



The Wyoming Central Irrigation Company, a corporation organized 
under the laws of Wyoming, is under contract with the State to build a 
canal system covering all the lands which can be irrigated. Water 
rights together with a proportionate interest in the canals and reservoirs, 
are sold at $30.00 per acre on ten years' time, payable $3.00 per acre 
down and balance in ten equal annual payments, with six per cent in- 
terest. When the water rights have been sold, the system will be turned 
over to the management of the settlers under the canal. This reserva- 
tion was selected by the Indians on account of its having a mild and 
equalble climate, live stock being able to run at large all. winter, lhe 
Wyoming Central Company has established experimental farms for the 
information and instruction of the settlers, as to the value of various 
crops character of soil and best methods of irrigation. Tributary to 
these' irrigable lands is a vast area of grazing lands, two hundred miles 
square where five hundred thousand sheeo and one hundred thousand 
cattle can be grazed, which can all be fattened for market on the products 
of the farms in this tract. This farming district is surrounded by min- 
eral districts containing coal, copper, oil, gold, building stone, marble, 
shale suitable for Portland cement manufacture, limestone and brick 
shales The thriving town of Riverton has been built up, and the land 
under the first lateral constructed by the company, some fifteen thou- 
sand acres has been filed upon, as well as many thousands of acres for 
which laterals have not yet been constructed. There are thousands of 
acres of valuable land open for settlement, and, by writing to the com- 
pany at Riverton, pamphlets containing full description ot the lands 
can be secured. The railroads give homeseekers rates twice a month, 
the land being directly tributary to the Chicaeo & Northwestern Rail- 
road, which passes through Shoshoni, Riverton and Lander. 

HOW TO MAKE ENTRY. 

'All persons making homestead entries in said reservation within two 
years after the opening are required to pay $1.50 per acre, but in home- 
stead entries made thereafter, the sum of $1.25 is to be paid. Fifty cents 
per acre is to be paid at the time of making the entry, and twenty-five 
cents per acre annually thereafter until the price provided for has been 
fully paid. Lands entered under the townsite, coal and mineral land 
laws must be paid for in amount and manner as provided by said 

laws. . , J , c , j • 

"Notices of location of mineral entries are required to be filed in 

the local land offices of the district in which the land is situated, and 

unless entry and payment shall be made within three years from the 

date of location, all rights thereunder shall cease. 

"In case any entryman fails to make any payments for the land as 

provided, within the time stated, all rights covered by such entries shall 

cease, and payments which have been theretofore made will be forfeited 

and the entry held for cancellation. 



Uncle Sam Is Investing Millions in Wyoming Reclamation Projects. 




The Great Pathfinder Dam, North Platte River, which will supply water for the irrigation of 150,000 acres of land in Laramie 

County. 

[43] 



"Commutation of homestead entry may be made of these lands under 
Section 2301, R. S.. but the parties will be required to pay the price for 
the land, as fixed by the act. 

"After the expiration of five years from the date of the opening, all the 
lands then undisposed of, except mineral and coal land, shall be sold 
to the highest bidder for cash at not less than $1 per acre, and any of 
such lands remaining unsold after eight years from the time of opening 
may be sold to the highest bidder for cash, without regard to the min- 
imum limit of price. 

"The ceded portion embraces about two-thirds of the land within said 
reservation and contains approximately 1,150,000 acres." 

HOW TO OBTAIN A RIGHT TO THE USE OF WATER. 

The applicant must survey his ditch line and determine the lands 
which can be irrigated. Blanks for making application can be secured 
from the State Engineer's office at Cheyenne, and, when correctly filled 
out and accompanied by maps, in duplicate, showing the necessary in- 
formation, accompanied by the filing fee of $2.00, will be considered by 
the State Engineer and, if the water applied for is not already ap- 
propriated, a permit will be granted. The applicant will be notified of the 
further proceedings required before final appropriation is made. 

If the land for which water is desired has been segregated under 
the Arid Land Act or is included in water permit granted for a canal 
already constructed or in course of construction, the applicant_ must 
purchase a water right, which includes a proportionate interest in the 
canal or irrigation system from the company or person holding the per- 
mit. If the water is not used for beneficial purposes for a period of 
five years, the right is deemed abandoned and a new permit may be 
issued for other lands or for the same land to other parties. 

Full particulars in regard to all matters concerning water can be 
secured by application to the State Engineer, Cheyenne, Wyoming. 



Rancnmg. 



THE ranchman has made Wyoming, and in every county of the 
state the ranchman is its most prosperous- citizen. In the early 
days of the state, when most of its vast area was open range, great 
ranches were the rule, but with changing conditions the great ranches are 
being subdivided and hundreds of homes are now found where formerly 
miles of open range surrounded the buildings of a single ranch. 

The ranch scenes shown in this book may be taken as typical of 
any of the ranching communities of Wyoimng, and there are thousands 



of other localities where the business of ranching on a greater or less 
scale is adpated to the capital of the incoming settler. Every portion 
of the state is now being reached by railroads, which insure the prompt 
moving of the ranch crops and live stock, and bring the ranchman and 
his family in touch with the neighboring towns. 

The area of land in Wyoming subject to entry under the land 
laws of the United States is given at 48,000,000 acres. The mountain 
ranges adjacent to the ranch lands are covered with the most nutritious wild 
grasses, which have made the business of ranching possible, and while 
the great open range is a thing of the past, there is still sufficient graz- 
ing for all the cattle which can be profitably handled from the adjacent 
ranch land. The Wyoming ranchman is adapting himself to the chang- 
ing conditions of live stock raising, and each year sees improvements along 
these lines. 

The raising of horses is also a branch of the ranch industry that may 
well be taken into consideration by anyone about to embark in this 
business. It is a well recognized fact that horses raised at high altitudes 
have better lungs, stronger bone and muscle and tougher hoofs than 
those from the lowlands. Wyoming is a horse paradise. 



Horticulture. 



[44] 



THE picture of Ed Young's apple orchard at Lander, in Fremont 
County, Wyoming, on page 27, shows the pioneer horticultural ex- 
periment in this state, and demonstrates the possibility of success- 
fully growing apples and other fruit at these altitudes. On the Laramie 
Plains, at an altitude of 7,400 feet, Mr. Jacob Lund has an orchard 
which matures Wealthy apples each year; and strawberries, gooseberries, 
currants and other small fruits can be grown wherever there are agri- 
cultural lands. 

The State Board of Horticulture has issued a beautiful pamphlet illus- 
trating the progress and success of horticulture in Wyoming, and it is 
sent for the asking. Some of the greatest men in the state are actively 
interested in this very necessary and highly profitable branch of agri- 
culture, and it is certain that in the future Wyoming will be ranked 
among the hardy fruit producers of the West. There are nurseries scat- 
tered all over the state, in nearly every county, and at each county fair 
there is active competition on the part of the fruit enthusiasts for the 
place of honor for their products. The common garden vegetables are 
raised all over the state, and at altitudes less than 5,000 feet those rated as 
tender, such as melons, tomatoes, pumpkins, squashes, peanuts and sweet 
potatoes, are grown readily and with entire success. 




Buildings of the University of Wyoming, at Laramie. 

[45] 



The best horticultural sections of the state are the low altitude 
lands and the protected valleys of Big Horn, Laramie, Johnson, Sheridan 
and Fremont Counties. 

Successful horticulture at these altitudes offers a wonderful field 
for men and women who understand the business and are willing to 
adapt themselves to the new conditions which they will find prevailing 
here. For such there need be no doubt of the prosperous outcome of a 
venture in this most inviting field. 



/ive 



Stock. 



Health. 



Wi'OMING is noteworthy for the good health that prevails among 
its people. The climate is similar to that of the mountain region 
of Italy, and is not, as many erroneously suppose, extraordi- 
narily severe in winter. The dry air is invigorating, and there are few 
climates more bracing, healthful or pleasant than that of this moun- 
tain region. 

Hot springs, whose medicinal and curative properties are amply es- 
tablished, abound throughout the state. The great Thermopolis Hot 
Springs in southeastern Big Horn County, shown on page 37, are the 
property of the state, which maintains a bath house absolutely free to 
all those who wish to avail themselves of the curative properties of these 
wonderful waters. These springs are reached by the Burlington rail- 
road, and there is ample accomodation at Thermopolis for all comers, 
as well as ample camping ground for those who wish to camp out at 
the springs. These springs are destined to become as well known and 
popular as the famous Hot Springs of Arkansas or the Carlsbad waters 
of Europe. Thousands visit them now, and as their fame spreads 
throughout the West, the number is increasing yearly. 

In Wyoming the heat is never intense. In the hottest summer weather 
it is but a step from the heat of the sunshine into the shade which is 
always cool. Sunstroke is unknown. The air in winter is clear and 
sharp, but easily borne and even pleasant. All over the state — except 
at high altitudes — one may, even in midwinter, sit in comfort in the 
sunshine in any sheltered corner. In the shade there is the tingie of 
northern cold, and heavy clothing is none too warm. This cool but sun- 
shiny air acts as a tonic and aids nutrition. The brilliant and continuous 
sunshine, so dear to the true Westerner, is often mistaken by Eastern 
people to mean unseasonable heat, but really has nothing to do with the 
temperature. We offer the invalid, not a climate of balmy warmth, but, 
better, one in which the bracing cold is flooded for more than three- 
fourths of the day with bright sunshine. 



[46] 



THE live stock industry of Wyoming, which for a long time was its 
only industry, has a history as varied and romantic as a Sixteenth 
Century tale. When the country now comprised in this State was 
first discovered, a luxuriant grass covered the prairies, upon which nothing 
but buffalo and wild game grazed. Her first herds were gathered and 
reared by men who preceded the first attempts at actual settlement of 
the territory. Lying in the pathway of that great migration to the Pacific 
coast, which began in the middle of the past century, her territory was 
necessarily traversed by countless long trains of ox teams, many of 
which, through accident or disease, were destined never to reach their 
journey's end. Sick, injured, footsore and poor, these animals were 
abandoned to live as best they might, or become a prey for the wild 
animals of mountain and plain. That many of them lived through the 
winter following and were fat enough for beef in the early springtime 
proved a revelation to the man accustomed to long and expensive winter 
feeding, and forced his attention to the fact that our mountain grasses 
must possess nutritious dualities of marvelous worth. To raise cattle, 
horses and sheep was. for our earliest settlers, an easy matter, but 
to keep them was quite a different proposition, for the Indian had 
little respect for the rights of ownership, and no horse was safe be- 
yond the reach of a bullet from his owner's trusty rifle. When the 
white man came to s^ay he brought vast herds of cattle that thrived on 
the strong and nutritious grasses of the open range. Fast following 
these early days of settlement, of danger and accumulation, came the 
"boom" in the cattle business during the '80s, marked by the investment 
of millions of dollars by men who knew nothing of the business in which 
they so recklessly embarked. The period of unwarranted speculation, 
fancy prices and extravagant waste was of short duration, and, naturally 
enough, was followed by rapid depression of prices and the consequent 
failures of the inexperienced. 

Following this aopeared the ranchman of moderate means, having 
smaller herds of cattle, who had learned by bitter experience that feed 
must be provided for severe winters. Thus ranches were settled and 
irrigated — alfalfa, hay and other feed provided — rendering the business 
that was formerly so precarious a safe and steady avocation, and one 
that is rapidly giving our people wealth and independence. 

The requisites for success in the business are a few cattle, sheep 
or horses, and attention to their wants under the conditions of the country 
and climate. The man who can do this for a few years will, with common 
prudence, find himself independent of the world, and his old age may 
be spent in peace and with plenty. 




Wyoming Wild Elk. 



Every year the big game country of Wyoming is visited by more sportsmen and each year sees more enthusiasts added to the 

loyal supporters of her just game laws. Bear and elk furnish all the sport needed and the fishing 

is fine throughout the State. Write for copy of Game Laws. 

[47] 



Sk 



eep. 



very small capital to begin with. For men 'of this class, who are not 
afraid to work, there is no better field for profitable investment than is 
now offered in Wyoming sheep. 



IN 1907 there were over five million sheep in the state, valued at $17,- 
000,000. The Wyoming flockmasters have been keenly alive to the im- 
portance of improving the quality of the wool and the necessity of early 
maturity in mutton. Hence we now find Wyoming lambs topping the 
market "and in demand everywhere. Winter feeding of lambs is becoming 
an important branch of the sheep industry; experiments are constantly 
being made to improve the nutritive value of the feed supplied, those 
conducted with a view to ascertaining the food value of field peas being 
especiallv successful. . 

Lambs fed on alfalfa hay (one of Wyoming s staple agricultural 
products) varied with peas or grain of some sort, in one hundred days 
of winter feeding can be made to weigh eighty to ninety pounds; and 
mutton so produced is considered by epicures the best on the market. 

Lambs fattened on alfalfa, barley, pease or other rations, but espe- 
Oentury tale. When the country now comprised in this state was 
ciallv on pease, are money makers to the feeder. Pea-fed lambs always 
top "the market. In 1905-06 four carloads were fed sixty-five days on 
pease. They were allowed to forage the crop for themselves and when 
shipped to St. Joseph they topped the market at $7.45. 

The same statements will hold true for hogs.. And they are free from 

cholera. . ... , , 

The one thing the eastern farmer must bear m mind in regard to 
stock-raising and stock-feeding on these plains is that no shed or barn 
is required, as in the moist countries farther east. Lambs and pigs are 
dropped often in mid-winter, and there is no such thing as building a 
fire in the hog house, even though the time is January. 

Thousands of sheep and stock of all kinds are raised on the Laramie 
Plains, and it will be many years before enough farm produce can be 
raised 'to fatten this stock. A ready market, then, will always await the 

farmer. .... 

Wyoming leads all of the Western states and territories in the price 
per head of its sheep, and leads every state in the Union in the total value 
of its sheep, the number and value of its lambs, the amount and value of its 
wool clip, and the average weight of fleece produced. 

The wool at fifteen cents a pound a little more than pays all the ex- 
pense of running the sheep for the year, so that the increase and mutton 
are the accumulated net profits. With wool at 16-20 cents per pound as at 
present, there is a handsome profit on every head in the State. 

The State Veterinarian has ever a watchful eye upon the flocks of 
the state, and they are maintained in a high state of health, consequently 
are profitable to their owners. Sheep are now run in every county of the 
state and form the foundations of some of the greatest fortunes which 
have been built up in Wyoming — many of them by men who had but a 



CattL 



[48] 



THE wonderful native grasses, which cover the plains of Wyoming, 
made the cattle business possible in the early days, and the cattle 
business made the State of Wyoming a reality. In former days 
the free range made vast herds of cattle a profitable investment, but 
with the passing of the open range, the improvement in the grade of 
stock was a necessity and many herds of the highest grade of cattle and 
other live stock are now maintained throughout the state. 

Wyoming can grow better beef at a less cost than almost any other 
section, for the reason that land values are very low, as compared with 
land values of other states. Stock raisers are rapidly coming to ap- 
preciate the importance of winter feeding, and as a consequence hay and 
grain production is receiving more attention every year. Moreover, al- 
falfa, hay and oats combined form a perfect ration for the correct and 
complete development of bone, muscle and flesh, while our natural buffalo 
grass and bluestem hay excels the famous bluegrass of Kentucky. Under 
irrigation these are cheaply and quickly grown, while our cloudless sum- 
mer skies permit us to harvest these crops so as to retain all nutritive 
properties. 

The dry climate of the winters makes the country unequaled for 
stock feeding. In December, 1904, one of our foremost ranchmen, Mr. 
E. J. Bell, shipped a carload of grass-fed steers to the International Live 
Stock Exposition. These cattle were originally entered in the hay-fed 
class, but the officials decided that they were too good for this class 
and they were transferred to the class of corn-fed steers. Here Funk 
Bros, took the first and second prizes and Mr. Bell's grass-fed carload 
carried off the third prize. They sold for $7 and weighed 1,480 pounds. 
Remember these cattle did not knozv what grain was. 

The prize steer at the recent Stock Show at Denver was four years 
old and weighed 1,850 pounds after being fattened for forty days on 
alfalfa. Bald barley, oats and stock beets. Add to this Canadian field peas 
and there is a fattening ration second to none ; each of these can be 
produced here at a small cost for the production of the finest beef at home. 

Blood and feed, with ideal natural conditions, in a land w r here disease 
is unknown, enable us to defy the world in the breeding of live stock. 
Our winters are mild; cattle graze in the fields during the whole year. 

Wyoming cattle are healthy, and the state exercises a rigid supervision 
over all incoming herds. All beef breeds do well and show a marked 



Wyoming has 25,000 Wild Elk and Other Big Game as Well. 




Mountain Sheep Above Timberline. 

A hunt in the big game country of Wyoming will make a new man of the man of affairs, who is hard at it all the year round in 
the cities, and will give him more to think about for the rest of his life than any other experience 

could possibly convey. Try it, Mr. Busyman. 

[49] 



improvement in this high altitude. Experiments made by our more progres- 
sive ranchmen have demonstrated conclusively that steers can be hay-fed 
and matured during the winter with great profit. There is today no better 
opportunity for money-making than producing beef in Wyoming. 



M 



merals. 



H 



orses. 



IT has been proven beyond question that horses raised on the foothills 
and mountains, in the pure light air of an elevation of from 5,000 to 
10 000 feet, have better lungs, stronger and better developed bone and 
muscle and tougher hoofs, than horses from any other country. This is 
borne out by the fact that not only the United States Government, during 
the Spanish war and since, but the English Government, for service in 
South Africa, have purchased as many thousand head of horses in Wyo- 
ming as could be obtained. . 

No horse in the world can compete with the Wyoming horse m en- 
durance of all kinds of hardship to which horse flesh is subjected by man. 
This is a broad statement, but we make it without fear of refutation; 
every horseman and horse in the State stands ready to back it up . 

Embracing about 98,000 square miles of territory, nearly every acre 
of which is clothed in a mantle of the most nutritious grasses and sage 
brush browse, Wyoming presents a territory for grazing purposes 40 
per cent larger than is found in all the eastern states combined. Add 
to this vast food supply the most delightful climate in the world, with 
cool summers and dry, mild winters, and it is but little wonder that 
Wyoming has been called the "Stockman's Paradise," and that it has 
become an important factor in supplying beef, mutton and wool to the 
eastern and western markets. 



AS hinted elsewhere, the mineral industry of Wyoming is yet in its 
infancy and the mountain ranges throughout the state offer a 
wonderful field to the prospector. Gold and silver, copper and 
iron and the lesser minerals, such as sulphur, asbestos, building clays 
and building stone of every description, have been demonstrated to exist 
in commercial quantities in many localities. So important is the future 
of the mineral industry considered by the people of the state that the 
School of Mines of the University has recently been provided with new 
and commodious quarters, and a large sum has been spent on machinery, 
tools and equipment. . 

It is a curious fact that the first gold discoveries of the West were 
made in Wyoming, and for a time the Sweetwater Mines, as the South 
Pass Gold District was then known, were famous the world_ over. Mil- 
lions of dollars were taken out of the placers, and the mmmg camps 
flourished with all the old-time romance. 

The placer mines were followed by discoveries of the lode mines, 
and the names of the "Miner's Delight," VCarissa" and "Big Atlantic 
became household words throughout the country. New discoveries m 
other states soon attracted the floating population of the early camps, and 
for many years these gold mines have lain practically idle. 

Now they are being opened up by the men of large capital. Improved 
modern machinery, new plans for saving all the gold, have succeeded the 
wasteful ways of the old "flush times," and Wyoming is once more on 
the hi°h road to be a producer of precious metals— a result toward which 
Albany County will contribute the output of the rich Douglas Creek and 
other placers, and Carbon, Fremont, Big Horn and Uinta Counties will 
add the richness of their now undeveloped mines. 



iwme. 



SWINE do remarkably well in our State, hog cholera being unknown, 
and it is said that young shoats born in our high altitude are not 
liable to contract the disease when shipped east to be finished on 
corn Swine do well the year around on alfalfa. In the summer they 
are turned in to the green alfalfa fields and in the winter fed on the 
dry hay. The best of pork can be produced very cheaply on a com- 
bination feed of alfalfa, roots, small grain or peas. 

Today Wyoming imports a large proportion of the salt pork, bacon 
and ham "consumed by her citizens, amounting to tens of thousands of 
dollars' worth each year. The freight rate from the eastern market is 
very high, and this meat could be produced in Wyoming with great profit. 



lopper and Iron 



[50] 



THESE are the two principal metals mined in the state today. In 1908 
Wyoming produced 4,350,000 pounds of copper and 675,000 tons 
of iron ore. These came from very small spots on the mineral map 
of the state and active mining is in progress in nearly every mountain 
ran^e within her boundaries. Until the last ten years but little active 
mining had been attempted, the undeveloped mineral possibilities ot the 
state having been neglected for the more apparent fortunes in live stock 
and kindred industries. Now the situation has changed, and the whole 
state is being actively prospected, with some surprising results, in 



The Big Horn Basin Coal Fields Have Simply Been Touched Upon. 




A Flashlight Photograph of a Fourteen-Foot Vein of Coal in the New Gebo Coal Mines at Kirby, Big Horn County. 

This is the first time the coal of this field has found a general market, and the great fields of the Basin will in the future rank with 

the great Rock Springs field in Southern Wyoming. Here the coal is a high grade lignite and a good 

steam coal. The Burlington Route has opened it up and other mines will follow. 

[51] 



nearlv every county may be found a- constantly Increasing number of min- 
ing camps." and each year sees new producers of metal entering the 

lists. ■ • 1 1, 

Darin"- the past few years copper in commercial quantities has been 
found in nearly all of the thirteen counties of the state. Development 
work is being" actively pushed in all parts of the district called the 
"Grand Encampment country," in Carbon and Albany Counties, in which 
lie the famous Ferris-Haggarty and Doane-Rambler mines. Albany County 
boasts the Great Rambler mine, containing copper in almost all its known 
forms. Big Horn and Fremont Counties show prospects which are be- 
lieved to be of great promise. 

Production has been low owing to almost impossible transportation 
conditions which are gradually being overcome by the new and old 
railroads throughout the State. The only smelter is at Encampment, where 
the Penn-Wyoming Copper Company, controlling the Ferris-Haggarty 
and Doane-Rambler mines, has built 44 miles of railroad from Walcott 
on the U P R R- to Encampment, and ran the greater part ot tbe 
year but are now doing development work only in their two mines 
for a o-reater record next year. Several new strikes were made in the 
Encampment district, that of the West Virginia- Wyoming Company 
in Battle Basin being the most notable, as it proves the further ex- 
tension of the contact ores of the region and lights the way for others. 
\fter some six years of expensive experimenting, the Rambler Min- 
ing Company, controlling the Great Rambler Mine, in the Medicine Bow 
RaW in \lbany County, have succeeded in separating the platinum and 
palladium which occurs in commercial quantity in their copper ores, and 
during the fall of 1908 have had a force of men reopening the property. 
The building of the Laramie, Hahns Peak and Pacific R. R. from Laramie 
to the North Park coal fields brings transportation within a few miles 
of this and the adjacent mines on Lake Creek and Douglas Creek, as 
well as the Shawnee and other properties on French Creek and the Snowy 
Range, where heavy copper indications are being quietly developed and 
proven. . _ 

The Williams-Luman Mine at Depass, on Copper Mountain in bre- 
mont County, is opening up the largest body of copper ore yet discovered 
in Wyoming. Little of this is heard about, as no stock is sold and 
none for sale. Two thousand feet of development work has shown 
a huge ore body, eighty feet wide and length not proven. At 485 teet 
depth copper oxides and metallic copper are noted, as at surface, and 
the accompanying gold bearing streak of some six or seven feet is 
much in evidence. A gas producer plant to use lignite has been installed 
for additional power. 

The Boysen power dam in the Big Horn Canon at the west end of Cop- 
per Mountain, is being relied upon for power for the whole adjacent mining 
territory, as well as the nearby towns, and as all the difficult work ot 



installation is practically completed, the plant should be in operation 
bv the spring of 1909. 

Copper prospecting is proceeding over a greater territory than ever 
before and more genuine development work on better showings is the 
result 'of this systematic work. It is being more generally recognized 
that copper is the main mineral to be found in Wyoming and the low 
o-rade of the ores, conditions of occurrence, and method of development 
are being better understood, with marked improvement m results. 

" Second to those of no state in the Union are the deposits of iron 
ore. Prospecting along this line has been very limited and only iron 
districts near the railroads have received any attention The only dis- 
tricts where mining has been carried on are Hartville Rawlins and 
Seminoe The soft ores from these camps make an excellent paint, and 
hard ores also exist. These ores are much used by smelters as a flux. 

Production has gone on steadily in the Colorado Fuel and Iron 
Company's mines at Sunrise, Laramie County, and the total for 19JS 
will exceed 1907. Additional prospecting in this vicinity has shown a 
greater area than this deposit was supposed to cover, and the presence 
or iron operators from eastern fields, bidding for lands here, indicates 
that other mines and properties again have a chance of being opened up 
The Bradley Peak and Rawlins deposits, m Carbon County, have also 
been under inspection, but nothing definite has been given out for pub- 
lication Prospecting for iron is also going on in other sections of the 
State, and samples submitted indicate that other commercial iron areas 

W1 Norther field offers finer opportunities for mining investment than 
this long-neglected State of Wyoming. 



Asbestos. 



[52] 



THIS will be an important item in the mineral reports of Wyoming 
for years to come. Commercial Chrysotile Asbestos has been 
practically developed this year by the North American Asbestos 
Company on Casper Mountain, Natrona County, who will erect a mill in 
the spring of 1909 and begin commercial production at once 1 here i* 
no doubt as to the quantity and quality of the product; the fiber shows 
up to four inches in length, two inches is not uncommon and hber an men 
ono is common. Practical tests have amply demonstrated the spinning 
and" workable qualities of the fiber, though at first only the rougher 
o"ades will be regularly produced. The asbestos occurs in serpentine in 
g-raifite and schist: showing up to two hundred feet wide and solid asbestos 
rock was shown in the main workings, twenty teet wide and the full 
width not cut at that time. 



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[53] 



Asbestos in its crude state., as found imbedded in the original rock, 
exists in either surface or underground veins. It appears like a woolly 
outgrowth of the rock, when weathered by exposure to the atmosphere. 
Chemically, it is known as "hydrous silicate of magnesia." Geologically, it 
is found in a "metamorphic eruptive rock." Commercially absestos is 
found in the variety of rock called "serpentine" and is known as "crysotile." 

This crysotile occurs in parallel layers and is quarried or mined by 
blasting, just as ordinary rock. The mineral varies from a yellow or 
brownish color to light and dark green, and when separated and ready for 
market is wavy and silky in texture, while pearly white in color. It is 
separated by hand cobbing or by machinery, the process being very simple. 
The material is then easily spun or woven into texture, when it becomes 
commercial asbestos and is ready for shipment. 



Coal. 



WYOMING coal is known from one end of the country to the 
other, and it was this coal which made the first great trans- 
continental railroads a commercial possibility. The coal produc- 
tion of Wyoming has grown from 35,000 tons in 1868 to over 6,000,000 tons 
per annum in 1908. There are over 20,000 square miles of known coal 
land in Wyoming — a greater area in proportion to its size than is found 
in any other of the Rocky Mountain States — and coal mines are actively 
operated in twelve out of the thirteen counties. The kinds of coal vary 
from a pure lignite to a high-grade bituminous variety. The best grades 
are low in sulphur and ash, and are excellent fuels for locomotives, gen- 
eral steam-making, domestic purposes and gas production. Fine coking 
coal is mined at Cambria, Weston County. 

As new railroads push out into the hitherto neglected portions of the 
state, new coal fields become available and new fortunes are being built 
up from the black diamonds of Wyoming. 



Wyoming s Oil. 



THERE are nineteen well-defined oil fields in Wyoming, which pro- 
duce oil of an acknowledged superior quality. In each of these 
oil is flowing from springs, or there are thick bands of oil sand ex- 
posed. The greater number of these fields are situated in the central 
portion of the state, but there are fields in the northeastern portion, in 
the southwestern part, and in the northern central region. 



The oils produced by these fields will yield oil of every known grade, 
from an illuminating oil of the highest quality, secured in Uinta County, 
where the wells shown in the illustration are located, to the famous lu- 
bricating oils of Salt Creek, in Natrona County, which have not the smallest 
trace of illuminating oil among their constituents. It is in the latter field 
that the greatest progress has been made in development work, and the 
refinery at Casper turns out a varied assortment of lubricants in com- 
mercial quantities. 

The following are prominent fields : 

The Popo AgiE Oil Field. — This field is situated ten miles southeast 
of Lander, Fremont County. It covers several townships and extends 
north to Lander. The history of this field is far more interesting than 
any other oil field. It was discovered by Bonneville in 1"833, and is 
the place where the first producing oil well was drilled. From the date 
of Bonneville's visit up to 1867 the oil spring was unknown, except to 
the hunter or trapper, who frequented the locality to secure the oil for 
medicinal, lubricating, illuminating and other purposes. There are now 
thirteen flowing wells, with a capacity each of 200 barrels per twenty- 
four hours ; owned by the Belgo-American Drilling Trust, as are also 
the lubricating oil wells situated on Salt Creek, with the refinery at 
Casper. The oil appears black, is reddish brown by transmitted light 
and has a strong, disagreeable odor. 

In refining the' products are gasoline and kerosene, about 35-45 per 
cent, and the balance lubricating oils and asphaltum. The oil is of 
heavy asphaltum base and suitable for high grade fuel, tests giving 
14,571,000 foot pounds of energy per pound of oil. One pound of this 
oil will convert 19.40 pounds of water at 212° F. into steam. 

Lander and Shoshone Oil Fields. — The Lander field joins the Popo 
Agie on the north, and the Shoshone joins the Lander on the north, 
extending into the Wind River Indian Reservation. Drilling is now going 
on near Lander for wells to supply'the Wyoming and Northwestern R. R. 
with fuel from these fields, tests on the engines having proven very 
satisfactory. 

Salt Creek Oil Field. — This is the producing field of Wyoming 
mentioned in the beginning of this article and lies fifty miles north of 
Casper, in Natrona County. There are fourteen producing wells, eight 
of which have been pumped for ten years and show as much oil as 
ever ; the average depth is about 800 feet and there is considerable 
pressure. 

The oil is the finest natural lubricant known and contains not a 
trace of illuminating oils. 

Its remarkably low congealing point and high fire test, combined 
with its great viscosity and freedom from tarry and gumming products 
render it especially valuable in railroading, and it is used on a number 
of western roads today. 



[54] 



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[55] 



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[56] 



There are Nineteen ^V^ell Defined Oil Fields in Wyoming. 




View of Oil Fields near Evanston, Uinta County, which produce fine illuminating oil free from lubricating constituents, 
fields are situated in Fremont, Converse, Big Horn, Weston, Crook, Sweetwater, Natrona, Johnson and 

Carbon Counties, where all grades of oil are found. 

[57] 



Other 



Uinta County On. Fields.— This district includes several fields- 
Bear River Basin. Round Mountain, Fossil, Spring Valley, Twin Creek, 
Carter and Hilliard— and has many natural advantages over the other 
districts on account of its proximity to transportation, the Union Pacihc 
Railroad and the points of distribution. Salt Lake and Ogden. 

The 'cold test of the crude oil is 58° F., and the amount of crystallized 
paraffin that was present in the lubricating stock is 18.5 per cent. 

The Newcastle Oil Field is located in the vicinity of Newcastle, 
county seat of Weston County, on the Burlington Railroad 

This petroleum is similar in composition to the Salt Creek oils and 
belongs to the class of heavy oils, and is not suitable for the production 
of gasoline or kerosene, although they can be obtained from it. Its 
chief value will be for lubricating and for fuel purposes. It is, m its natu- 
ral state, an excellent lubricant, has a high gravity and low cold test, 
a high viscosity and shows no paraffin or asphalt. 

The Bonanza Oil Field and the Cottonwood Oil Field are in close 
proximitv to each other in Big Horn County, near No Wood River, a 
tributary" of the Big Horn. Active development work is now being carried 
on in this district, a very fine grade of oil having been found. 

The Douglas Oil Field is situated a short distance south of Douglas, 
county seat of Converse County, elevation 5,000 feet. The quality of the 
crude oil in this section is exceptional and will work up into remarkable 
lubricating oils. 

The Oil Mountain Field is situated twenty-five miles west of Cas- 
per Natrona County. This petroleum is principally valuable for lubricating 
purposes, although the most of it could be worked up into kerosene 
for open lamps, such as miners use. 

The Dutton Oil Field is situated partly in Fremont County and 
partly in Natrona County. Many oil springs are found here and natural 
?as is quite abundant. There is practically no development m this district. 
The oil has a gravity of .927 (21° B.). 

The Belle FourchE Oil Field is situated about fifteen miles north 
of Moorcroft on the Burlington Railroad, in Crook County. In the early 
history of the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, needing lubricating 
oil for the machinery, men were employed in this field in collecting oil 
from the springs, which was transported by wagon to Deadwood and there 
sold for $28 per barrel. 

The Powder River Oil Field is located on the South Fork of Powder 
River sixtv miles northwest of Casper, county seat of Natrona County ; 
fifty miles 'south of Buffalo, county seat of Johnson County. There are 
many oil springs in this field. This is one of the best helds m Wyoming 
the structural features are ideal. This petroleum is heavy and black 
the odor is slight, resembling common kerosene, and in general charactei 
is simialr to Salt Creek oil and the Popo Agie oil. 



The Rattlesnake and Arago Oil Fields are on the northeast slope 
of the Rattlesnake Mountains in Natrona County. Here is found as- 
phaltum in sufficient quantities for commercial importance, if it were 
not for the lack of transportation. 

Development. — The successful and profitable development of many 
of the oil fields depends largely upon the construction of new railway 
lines— an investment fully warranted by this resource— but there are a 
o-reat many opportunities presented in many of the fields which are adjacent 
to present railway lines for profitable and highly remunerative develop- 
ment. . . ... . . ,. 

Convenient access to railroad transportation facilities is indispens- 
able to the successful and profitable working of an oil field, and it is the 
lack of this that has hitherto prevented the greater development of the 
Wyoming fields. With the increased activity in railroad construction being 
manifest at present, this hindrance is disappearing, and Wyoming oil is 
becoming a factor in the market. It is certain that a bright and prosperous 
future is before this industry. 

Wyoming's infant oil business offers great opportunities to the right 

man. 



Natural Gas. 



[58] 



ASSOCIATED with the oil fields throughout the State are numer- 
ous natural gas horizons. The gas pressure in the oil wells near 
Lander is very great and gas escapes are noted at or near most 
of the oil sprinas. At Brenning Basin, near Douglas, in Converse County, 
a flow of gas ^has been struck in several wells, at a depth of 500 feet, 
and the gas has been piped and used for fuel and light m the vicinity, a 
pressure 'of 300 pounds per sciuare inch having been noted. Near Grey- 
bull in Big Horn County, an immense gas reservoir has been tapped and 
the 'well is being capped at this time. At Byron, thirty miles northwest 
of Greybull there are seven wells which show natural gas in commercial 
quantities, and also at Garland, seven miles west of Byron. In the eastern 
part of Fremont County there are two wonderful natural gas escapes. 
Prospectors have dug shallow shafts and curbed them with logs; the 
shafts are partially filled with water and the gas escapes with such violence 
as to cause the water in them to boil as though m a cauldron, through- 
out the State there are numerous anticlinals that are apparently not 
associated with the oil districts, where large flows of gas may be looked 

V Until recently natural gas has not received much attention, as there 
was but little local demand or use for the product, but with the changing 
industrial conditions throughout the State, this will be a valuable asset 
within a few vears. 



Wyoming Chrysotile Asbestos is of the Finest Quality. 





Panorama View of Casper Mountain, 
Natrona County. 











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Specimens of Crude Asbestos Taken from De- 
posits on Casper Mountains of Wyoming. 



[•"»] 



Fiberized Asbestos fin Marketable State) Taken 
from Casper Mountain, Wyoming. 



Education. 



WYOMING was the first state to grant equal political rights to 
men and women, and it is but natural that the subject of 
education should receive the most profound attention. The 
schools of Wyoming' are second to none, and in each county of the state 
every facility is extended to the children, however isolated are their 
homes, to secure an education. Schools are provided where they are 
even a very small number of pupils, and in all large towns are good 
high schools, which fit the young people for the State University. 

The University of Wyoming, located at Laramie, is an admirable 
institution, which offers splendid courses in literature, science and art, 
as well as in mining, mechanical and irrigation engineering, agriculture 
and commerce. 

The Unversity is founded and maintained for the purpose of being 
as useful as possible to the people of Wyoming, and the various regular 
and special courses carried on under the direction of the faculty are 
of the greatest practical benefit. 

Bulletins are issued by the University from time to time on topics 
of general interest to farmers and others, and are sent free upon request 
to all who will apply for them. 



►cenery. 



THE average traveler who considers himself well posted will gaily 
affirm that Wyoming is devoid of scenic attractions, but in reality 
there is no region in the world which can show scenery of the 
same grandeur as that of Northwestern Wyoming, south and east of 
Yellowstone Park. The Park itself is too well known to need descrip- 
tion here, but the region surrounding it offers the most wonderful series 
of views to be found in the world today, and with the rapidly increasing 
railroad facilities of this region these are becoming known so widely 
that each year sees a constant stream of tourists directing their steps 
toward this Switzerland of America. 

The National Park can be reached by wagon routes which enable 
one to make delightful camping trips through beautiful and diversified 
scenic country. The Cody Gateway of the Burlington Route is a won- 
derfully picturesque trip over a splendid new government road covering 
the fifty miles from Cody to the Park. The tally-ho coaches make stops 
at Colonel Cody's famous hotels. 

Guides and camping outfits can be had at Cody. 



Another plan is for the tourist to outfit at Lander on the Wyoming 
& Northwestern Railroad, taking his choice of several routes. From 
Green River or Rawlins, on the Union Pacific, a wagon trip may be 
arranged through the most wonderful wild scenery on the continent, 
and for the man who wants a good long camping trip, and a rest from 
his usual occupations, this latter trip is recommended. Any of them will 
be a wonderful experience, the impressions of which will last a life- 
time. 



Hunting. 



THE Jackson Hole Country of Western Wyoming is the greatest 
big game hunting ground in the world. The State Game Warden 
is authority for the statement that there are 25,000 wild elk in the 
state today. Deer are found in every mountain range, and antelope are 
still running wild wherever the open range remains. 

To describe each locality would require pages instead of a few lines. 
There is open season all the year round for fishing, but big game and 
game birds are protected under stringent game laws, which are strictly 
enforced under the direction of the State Game Warden. 

The open season is as follows : Grouse and sage chickens, August 
1st to September 15th ; deer, elk, antelope and mountain sheep, September 
15th to November 15th; snipe, plover, ducks and geese, September 1st 
to May 1st. 

The big game districts may be reached from points along the Union 
Pacific ; from Lander, in Fremont County, the present terminus of the 
Chicago & Northwestern, or from Cody or Thermopolis on the Bur- 
lington. 

In order to hunt large game or game birds, a hunter must purchase 
a license. To an elector of Wyoming, or a soldier or sailor stationed at 
a Government Post for the year past, a license is issued upon payment 
of $2. For a non-resident the fee is $5 for a gunner's license permit- 
ting the hunting of game birds, and $50 for a hunter's license for the 
killing of game animals. Non-resident hunters must be accompanied by 
a licensed guide when hunting game animals. 

During the open season licensed parties may kill not to exceed one 
elk, two deer, one antelope and one mountain sheep between September 
15 and November 15, and not more than twelve game birds in any one 
day. The barter or sale of any part of the animals or birds above men- 
tioned, or the possession of more than the specified number, is pro- 



[60] 





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[61] 



hibited under penalty of heavy fine or imprisonment. License must be 
carried and shown upon request. Game killed by licensed non-resident 
hunters may be shipped from the state, upon a certificate from a justice 
of the peace stating that such animals were killed according to law. It 
is unlawful to self any part of any wild animal, hides, horns or tusks, 
or to use dogs for the purpose of coursing or running the animals 
above mentioned. Taxidermists cannot buy hides, horns or any part 
of same animals or birds, but mounted birds or stuffed heads and horns 
lawfully killed may be shipped within or without the state. 



streams adds no little to the food supply of the state, as well as to the 
pleasure of its citizens. ( 

What rare enjoyment is that furnished by the gentle art! With 
rod and creel the worn-out business man can drive care away and win 
back the blossom of youth and the appetite that he used to have on the 
farm. In Wyoming there are long reaches of streams upon which camping 
is permitted without let or hindrance, where ^parties may commune with 
Nature and drink of the life-giving ozone of the mountains. The tang of 
the pine forests gives zest and the wild scenery lends a charm that one 
never forgets and which calls one back year after year. It is the call of 
the wild. 



Fishing. 

"We had determined on a feast, and trout were to be its daintiest 
daintv We had waited until the confusing pepper of a shower had 
passed away and left the water calm. We tossed to the fish humbugs 
of wool, silk and feathers, gauds such as captivate the greedy or the 
~uilele=s The trout, on the lookout for novelty, dashed up and swal- 
lowed disappointing juiceless morsels, and with them swallowed hooks. 
Then O Walton! O Davy! O Scrope! ye fishers hard by taverns; 
luxury was ours of which ye know nothing. Under the noble yellow 
birch "we cooked our own fish. We used our scanty kitchen-battery 
with skill. We cooked with the high art of simplicity. Where nature 
has done her best onlv fools rush in to improve. On the salmomds, 
fresh and salt, she has lavished her creative refinements. Cookery 
should only ripen and develop."— Theodore Wmthrop. 

THERE is no better trout fishing than that afforded by the streams 
of Wyoming. The largest rivers and the smallest mountain 
streams alike teem with fish life. Trout have been caught weigh- 
ing as much as thirteen pounds and many have been caught weighing more 
than five pounds. These rare beauties are the exception, however— 
the hooe that keeps the angler keyed up to the highest pitch of expectancy 
while he is landing basketsful of trout just right for the pan. As many 
as four varieties of trout have been taken from a single hole in our 
mountain streams— the sporty rainbow, the Eastern brook, the German 
brown and the native. . 

In addition to trout, some of the streams near and m the Yellow- 
stone National Park contain grayling and in the North Platte River 
there are endless quantities of pike and some cat-hsh. The fish of its 




Trout Fishing in Northwestern Wyoming. 




[«2] 



Agricultural Exhibits at County Fairs are Unsurpassed Anywhere. 




A bit of the exhibit of Laramie County at the State Fair, Douglas, 1908, showing the agricultural possibilities of Southeastern 

Wyoming. 

[63] 



Just a Few Brief Facts About the State. 



Area, 97,890 square miles. 

Mean temperature, 44 degrees. 

Finest trout fishing under the sun. 

Peerless in its educational facilities. 

Area of coal land, 20,000 square miles. 

Wool clip for 1907 worth $12,000,000. 

Cattle in 1907, 700,000, worth $14,000,000. 

Mean elevation, 6,000 feet above sea-level. 

Area covered with timber, 10,000,000 acres. 

Highest grade of soft coal known to man. 

Lofty mountains, rolling plains, vast plateaus. 

Population (estimated), July 1, 1907, 120,000. 

Tons of stream tin have been mined and sold. 

Five million head of sheep, valued at $17,500,000. 

Iron, copper and coal enough for a vast empire. 

Father of modern irrigation law and the reclamation act. 

Finest natural plaster on earth, manufactured at Laramie. 

Foremost in the application of the Carey Desert Land Act. 

Area subject to irrigation and cultivation, 10,000,000 acres. 

Nutritious grasses, furnishing abundance of feed for live stock. 

Great opportunities for making money in sheep, cattle and horses. 

Greatest wonderland in the world, the Yellowstone National Park. 

All the materials necessary for the manufacture of the finest glass. 



Coal mines are being operated in all the counties of the state save 
one. 

Area subject to entry under the land laws of the United States, 48,- 
000,000 acres. 

Source of the Columbia, the Missouri, the Colorado, the Grande 
and the Platte. 

One hundred and fifty cars per day of iron shipped from Sunrise 
and Guernsey to Pueblo. 

Vast iron deposits, second to those of no state in the Union, cheaply 
mined and high in value. 

Most famous rendevous in the world for large game; the hunter's 
paradise. Has 25,000 wild elk. 

Finest hot springs on earth, equal to Carlsbad in mineral properties, 
located at Thermopolis and Saratoga. 

All the mountain ranges contain gold and silver deposits, awaiting 
the hand of the prospector and the miner. 

Sulphur, asbestos and plumbago are among the minerals discovered 
in quantities considered commercially valuable. 

Over one million acres of land now being reclaimed under govern- 
ment and private enterprises. Ask about them. 

Grand opportunity for making money in the fattening of lambs upon 
field peas and alfalfa raised upon Wyoming soil. 

The rate of taxation throughout the state has decreased in the ag- 
gregate during the past ten years two mills on the dollar. 

Natural gas in commercial quantities discovered southwest of Douglas, 
Converse County, and at Basin and Byron, Big Horn County. 

Average interest rate in Wyoming, about eight per cent, indicating 
good business conditions and a strong demand for money. Gilt-edged 
security, of course, brings money at a lower rate. 



AAThy Not Make \Vyommg Your State and Home? 



[64] 



Railroads and Stage Lines. 



DURING the past year the whole transportation situation in Wyoming 
has been changed, and even greater changes and improvements must 
result from the new lines and extensions made necessary by the 
rapid developments in all lines which improved transportation conditions 
have made possible in nearly every section of the state. 

Tourists passing through Wyoming on the transcontinental railroads 
see little of the agricultural portion of the state, as the railroads for the 
most part run on the divides between water courses, while the farming 
settlements and irrigated lands, as in all semi-arid regions, are in the 
valleys of the rivers and creeks. The Union Pacific runs across the 
southern portion of the state for 468.97 miles, connecting at Green River 
with the Oregon Short Line for Oregon and the Northern Pacific country. 
The Colorado & Southern has a line running from Cheyenne to Orin 
Junction, 153.68 miles, connections with the Chicago & Northwestern 
branch, running from Chadron to Casper, with a trackage of 130.43 miles 
in Wyoming. 

The Wyoming & Northwestern railroad is the extension of the North- 
western system from Casper to Lander, 149 miles, reaching all points in 
the new Shoshone Reservation country and Central Wyoming. 

The Burlington Route has four branch lines entering the state — 
twenty-nine miles of the Cheyenne and Holdredge line; 236.59 miles of 
the main line from Lincoln, Neb., to Billings, Mont., running through 
Newcastle and Sheridan, connecting at Toluca, Mont., with the branch 
line to Cody, Wyo., a distance of 129 miles (44.61 in Wyoming), and 
the line from Frannie to Kirby, via Basin and Worland, 114 miles, and 
by which all points in the Big Horn Basin may be reached; and 41.32 
miles of the line from Alliance up the Platte River to Guernsey, Wyo. 
The Colorado & Wyoming ore road, 14.55 miles long, connects the Colo- 
rado & Southern and Burlington roads with the iron mines at Sunrise. 

The Laramie, Hahns Peak & Pacific railroad is completed as far as Al- 
bany, 40 miles, and connections made there for all camps in the Medi- 
cine Bow Range. The fishing grounds of the Little Laramie River 
and the lakes of the Medicine Bow Range are reached by this route. 
Sunday excursion trains are run during the summer months. 

The Saratoga & Encampment railway is completed from Walcott, on 
the Union Pacific railroad, to Saratoga, 24 miles, and Encampment, 44 
miles. A regular schedule is maintained between these points. Special 
fishing trains run from Walcott to Saratoga on Saturdays, connecting with 
Union Pacific trains during the fishing season. 

There is a coal road, 6.6 miles of which is in Wyoming, from Belle 
Fourche, S. D., to Aladdin, and another nineteen miles long from Diamond- 
vjlle to Spring Valley. 



Stage lines cover the state thoroughly. Daily stages running from 
Laramie to North Park, Colo., carry mail and passengers to points on 
the Big Laramie River. 

From Encampment daily stages leave for Battle, twelve miles; 
Rambler, fourteen miles, and Dillon, nineteen miles; and connections 
are made for camps south or near the state line and Pearl, Colo., about 
thirty miles. 

Livery teams and saddle horses may be had here for different parts 
of the district not reached by stage. 

For Dillon and Rudefeha, where the Ferris-Haggarty mine is located, 
connections by team may also be made from Rawlins, the county seat of 
Carbon County, on the Union Pacific railroad, a distance of fifty-two 
miles, over a good road. 

From Lander stages run to Fort Washakie daily, connecting with other 
stages for Dubois, Circle and Union, all being points in the Wind River 
Range and on the road to the Jackson Lake country. 

Stages also run from Lander to South Pass City, Atlantic and the New 
Fork country, connecting at Dallas with another line for Meyersville, 
Hailey, Rongis and other points in Central Wyoming. 

Daily stages are maintained between Shoshoni, on the Wyoming & 
Northwestern railroad, and Thermopolis, via Birdseye, on Copper Moun- 
tain, and between Thermopolis and Kirby, on the Burlington. 

The most direct way into the Sunlight country is from Cody, by way 
of Hart Mountain, Pat O'Hara Creek, Dead Indian Hill and Sunlight 
Creek, the road having been built up the latter creek as far as the mouth 
of Galena Creek. From this road trails for pack animals lead up to 
Sulphur Creek, up Galena Creek, and thence over and around the moun- 
tain to the mines in Hughes Basin and Silver Tip Basin, on the west side 
of Stinking Water /Peak. 

The new road just constructed by the United States Government 
from Cody to the National Park, and which, by the way, is one of the 
finest and most picturesque roads in the West, runs within twenty miles of 
Silver Tip Basin, with a good road from the mouth of Jones Creek to 
the Basin. Two hotels have been constructed on this Park route and daily 
stages run over the new scenic road during the Park season. 

Other lines leave Rawlins for Dixon and Baggs and the Snake River, 
Colorado, country; from Casper to Central Wyoming; Clearmont to 
Buffalo ; Moorcroft to Sundance ; Moneta to Lost Cabin ; Basin to Bur- 
lington, Shell, Hyattville, Bonanza and Ten Sleep; Cody to Meeteetse; 
Thermopolis to Anchor ; connecting with mail routes ; Sheridan to in- 
terior points in Sheridan and Johnson Counties. Stage lines run from 
Kemmerer to Big Piney, connecting with interior points. 



H-HE DEPARTMENT OF IMMIGRATION has 

* issued this and other pamphlets on the various re- 
sources of Wyoming, which will be sent free on request to 

ROBERT <P. FULLER, 

Commissioner of Public Lands, 

CHEYENNE, WYOMING. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




